PRICE, 40 CENTS. Ft i$g 




by F-A-ELWELL jff 




PUBLISHED' BY THE 






League ° f American Wheelmen 

sso Atlantic Avenue /^ 

BP5TPM,MA55. 



THE L. E. W. GOOD ROADS LIBRARY 



Is made up of bright little handbooks (illustrated), of a size and 
form similar to this, and when completed the series will include 
a treatise on each practical subject connected with the art of 
making and maintaining roads, streets and pavements. Be- 
sides Wide Tires, three numbers are now ready, viz : 

it C* t\t inf t»i7 DnaHe" 6i pages; 67 illustrations. Separate 
VUUUirv IVWUi chapters on " Road Philosophy," " Road 

Drainage," "Improving the Surface," "Cross Drains and Culverts" and 
" Bridges." A condensed, meaty, practical and useful book. Every person 
who believes in good roads should have a copy. 

*' IMnrnHflm DAn/l c " 72 pages; 72 illustrations. Five chap- 
iTldtauaill IS,UCIU2> terS) carefully covering the following 
subjects: "History and Description of Macadam Roads," "Grades," 
" Drainage," " Making the Macadam Surface." and " Maintenance of Mac- 
adam Roads." It contains the meat and pith of the best information gath- 
ered from the experience of European and American road-makers. It tells 
what a Macadam road is ; describes old and new methods ; shows that Mac- 
adam roads are easy to make and easy to maintain ; gives simple rules for 
construction and estimates of cost; tells why rolling is necessary and how 
robing: should be done. It treats of grades and drainage; describes the differ- 
ent kinds of stone; tells what stone is suitable and what is not; refers to trap, 
limestone, field stone, river stone and other varieties, and tells how to use 
them. It gives, in fact, the very information you want, and has been spe- 
cially commended by the U. «. Government officers in charge of the Road 
Inquiry Bureau at Washington. 

ItCx/cXf* f>*if he" 80 P a S e s ; 77 illustrations. This little book begins 
*'J*' 1C * dXIia with a short introductory chapter, defining 
the views of the author on the general subject of cycle-path construction, and 
the duty of the L. A. W. in its relation to this work. Then follows a very full 
and interesting chapter, describing by text and illustration the cycle paths 
actually in use in different parts of the country, and showing how the work 
was done and the cost of it paid. The final chapter treats of the practical 
methods of making cycle paths, gives directions to aid the reader in the selec- 
tion and use of materials and tells fully and clearly how to organize and con- 
duct a movement for cycle-path construction, and for kindred objects. 

it VVIHp Tir^Q " 40 P a ? es ; 14 illustrations A concise and inter- 
TT IUC 111 Co esting record of tests conducted by the Agricul- 
tural Experiment Station of the University of the State of Missouri, to 
determine the influence of the width of tires on the draft of wagons. These 
trials were conducted on Macadam, gravel and dirt roads, meadows and pas- 
tures, stubble lands and plowed lands, and under all conditions that common- 
ly present themselves in the hauling of loads by farmers and merchants. 
Different widths of wheel tires were used and the amount of force required 
to haul these wagons under different conditions was carefully noted and 
tabulated. This little book contains the fullest and most satisfactory infor- 
mation on the wide tire question yet published, and is a valuable addition 
to the Good Roads Library of the L. A. W. 

A copy of any book included in the Good Roads Library will be sent free 
to any member of the League of American Wheelmen on receipt of postage 
(a two-cent stamp for each copy). A copy will be sent to any other person 
on receipt of five cents. 

lillllMlilltillllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllBliailBIIBIIBIiail 

Address, Road Department, L. A. W., 

530 ATLANTIC AVE., BOSTON, MASS. 



S£, 



l*>b«*. 



OPY, 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



AN ILLUSTRATED HAND-BOOK OF INFOR- 
MATION FOR THE USE OF 
TOURING CYCLISTS, 

CONTAINING ALSO 

HINTS FOR PREPARATION, SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING 

BAGGAGE, EXPENSES, ROUTES, HOTELS, ETC., ETC., 

AND A LIST OF FAMOUS CYCLING TOURS IN 

ENGLAND, IRELAND, FRANCE, SWITZERLAND, 

GERMANY AND HOLLAND, GIVING EACH 

DATS STOPPING PLACE, AND NOTES 

OF ATTRACTIVE FEATURES 

ALONG THE ROUTE. 



BY 

F. A. ^ELWELL, 
Of the League of American Wheelmen. ' 



PUBLISHED BY 

THE LEAGUE OF AMERICAN WHEELMEN, 
S30 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, Mass. 

Copyright, 1899, by the League of American Wheelmen. 






OFCONG RESS I 

INTRODUCTION 



* \ *"HIS little book has been prepared to answer the demands of members 
of the League of American Wheelmen, who, from year to year, in 
increasing numbers, extend their cycling tours into the countries of the 
Old World, and hence find need of a practical guide by which the few 
difficulties of their journey may be lightened and its pleasures enhanced. 
Mr. Elwell, by whose willing courtesy we are able to produce this 
volume, is a veteran tourist, having supervised the journeys of many 
cycling parties through European countries, and what he has here written 
may be taken as the result of personal observation by a painstaking and 
experienced man. It is believed to contain no important errors, and should 
any minor ones be discovered, they will be corrected in future editions. 
"Cycling in Europe" is the first volume of a series of useful little books, 
the publication of which has been planned by the officers of the L. A. W., 
under the general title of the "Cyclist's Library," and designed to cover 
the prominent themes which relate to cycling and tend to encourage the 
use of the wheel ; — this series being of course quite distinct in character and 
purpose from the " Good Roads Library " — the several volumes of which 
have placed the League in the forefront of good roads agitation within the 
United States. Further volumes of the Cyclist's Library will in due time 
be announced in the pages of the L A. IV. Bulletin, and with the 
increasing ' growth of the League, which seems sure to follow the 
encouragement of local organization in the different States, it is believed 
that these little books will have the wide circulation to which their value 
and importance entitle them. 

ISAAC B. POTTER, 
League of American Wheelmen, President, L. A. W. 

President's Office, December, 1898, 






CYCLING IN EUROPE 



THE SUBJECT IN OUTLINE. 

EUROPE THE GREAT CYCLING GROUND OF THE WORLD — ITS ATTRAC- 
TIONS TO THE TOURIST — OBJECT OF THIS VOLUME — THE ROUTE — 
ITS IMPORTANCE — GENERAL REMARKS — ROUTES SUGGESTED — 
IRELAND: CORK, DUBLIN, BELFAST AND THE ANTRIM COAST — 
SCOTLAND: ITS RUGGED BEAUTY, THE BIG CITIES, LAKES AND 
TROSSACHS, MELROSE ABBEY, ABBOTSFORD — ENGLAND: QUAINT 
VILLAGES AND MAGNIFICENT ESTATES, THE ENGLISH LAKES AND 
MOUNTAINS, GREEN LANES, HEDGEROWS, STATELY HOMES AND 
THATCHED COTTAGES — LONDON A WORLD IN ITSELF — ROUTES 
ACROSS THE CHANNEL — FRANCE: FINE ROADS, NUMEROUS 
ATTRACTIONS, ROMAN REMAINS, MINERAL SPRINGS — SWITZER- 
LAND: THE MOUNTAIN PASSES, LONG GRADES AND EXHILARATING 
COASTS, LAKES OF BLUE AND MOUNTAINS OF SNOW, GOOD 
HOTELS — ITALY, GERMANY AND HOLLAND — ATTRACTIONS FOR 
THE TOURIST — BEST MONTHS TO VISIT THESE COUNTRIES AND 
WHAT TO SEE. 

J"*" , F all portions of the world, Europe offers the best field 
1 for the use and enjoyment of the bicycle. Nowhere 
I else is there such a variety of nationalities, manners, 
customs, languages and natural scenery so compactly 
joined to each other; or so great a number of mag- 
nificent cities, filled with the rarest treasures of art and archi- 
tecture. And all these countries and cities are traversed by the 
finest highways in the world, enabling the tourist to wheel thous- 
ands of miles amid the most enjoyable surroundings. Every 
country is replete with historic interest, and no day's "run "is 
without its full quota of attractions. 

For all these reasons it is not remarkable that wheelmen of the 
United States look forward to a European tour as the crowning 
pleasure of their cycling lives, and spend many hours planning 
ways and means to bring about a realization of this desire. 

It is in the hope of giving useful information to L. A. W. mem- 
bers contemplating a cycle tour in Europe that this little book 
has been written. 



4 CYCLING IN EUROPE. 

It is realized that it is likely to be read by persons of widely 
varying tastes, and of different grades of ability to gratify these 
tastes: the man of ample means and leisure; the man to whom 
time is of more importance than the mere expenditure of money, 
and who desires to accomplish as much as possible in a limited 
period; the man who has more time than money; and the man 
whose time and money are both limited. It is this latter and 
most numerous class whose interests will be especially considered 
in the following pages. 

THE ROUTE. 

This is by far the most important matter in the preparation for 
the tour. In a brief summer vacation, only a very small part of 
Europe can be traversed by the cycling tourist, and too much 




Coach Road at Derrynane, Irelani 



care and thought cannot be given to make his route include that 
best worth seeing. The taste of the individual will have much to 
do in this connection. If he is an admirer of Scott and Burns, he 
has long ago determined that the " land o' cakes" is surely to be 
visited; if a lover of music, he has planned to give Germany a 
particularly large share of time; if of art, the cities of Italy hold 
forth attractions not to be resisted. What pleasure loving 
American thinks of omitting gay and beautiful Paris from his 
route; and as for England, it is a country so full of all that we 



THE SUBJECT IN OUTLINE. 5 

have heard and read about since we could hear or read anything, 
that to pass it by would to the student seem like the play of 
Hamlet with Hamlet omitted. 

But leaving out the specialists, there still remains a large class 
who have no particular desire to visit one country more than 
another, and who are waiting till their summer trip is over before 
deciding what they think the most attractive spots. 

The writer, in his many trips abroad, has naturally formed his 
judgment of the various lands he has visited, and even though 
he may not alw r ays agree with others who have been over the 
same ground, he has written here the honest opinions of one who 
considers himself an average American in his tastes and ideas, 
especially since he has found them to correspond with the 
opinions of the larger part of his fellow countrymen in whose com- 
pany these trips have been made. Our impressions of the exterior 
appearance of the various countries will be briefly given in the 
order in which they are usually visited. 

Ireland. — Not one American in a hundred halts at Londonderry 
or Queenstown on his trip abroad. He either thinks Ireland 
not worth visiting or that he will take it in on his return. But 
the return is often made with no time or money to spare for the 
Emerald Isle, and so he never sees its beauties. For, tnuh to 
tell, Ireland possesses attractions all its own, that cannot be 
rivaled in Great Britain or on the Continent. 




On the Upper Lake, Killarney. 



6 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



No finer trip for a wheelman can be found than that through 
counties Cork and Kerry, including the Prince ot Wales' route "to 
the Lakes of Killarney via Glengarriff and the foaming fjords of 
Kerry, It is a microcosm of all that is beautiful in nature. The 
ride from Cork to Dublin is replete with interest, and, should you 
land at Londonderry, you will, after visiting the Giant's Cause- 
way, do well to wheel down the grand Antrim Coast road to Bel- 




Throlc.h an Irish Village. 



fast. This road runs close to the Irish Sea for many miles and 
affords as fine a day's run as can well be imagined. 

To one landing, as did the writer, at Queenstown in the early 
spring, only ten days from the bleak shores of New England, in 
the month of April, the softness of the air, the vivid green of the 



THE SUBJECT IN OUTLINE. 7 

velvety lawns and the general semi-tropical aspect of everytning 
was most surprising and delightful. To wheel over the gorse 
bordered highways is a decided novelty and to dash about the 
streets of Cork and Dublin on a pneumatic tired jaunting-car 




Gateway of an Old English Town. 

(Ireland was the birthplace of the pneumatic tire), with a glib 
tongued driver, is an experience one would not care to miss. 

The cities of Dublin, Belfast and Cork are full of bustling 
Irishmen, who, if you come to know them, you will find to be as 
pleasant, genial fellows as it was ever your fortune to meet. 

There are, probably, some parts of Ireland that it would be wise 
to avoid, where poor roads and poorer hotels would mar one's 
enjoyment; but the routes that I have indicated, and doubtless 
others, do not possess these drawbacks, and the days spent in 
going over them will be marked with a double star in your itin- 
erary. 

Scotland. — Our ideas of Scotland have been largely formed from 
the descriptions of Scotch and English writers whose magic pens 
have invested its mountains, lakes and glens with a halo of romance 
and beauty that to the touring American, whose eyes have rested 
on loftier mountains, grander lakes and mightier gorges in his 
own country, seems somewhat overdrawn. But even he will 



8 CYCLING IN EUROPE. 

enjoy Scotland's rugged beauty of land and water, and in Edin- 
burgh he will find one of the most picturesque and interesting 
cities in ail Europe. 

One of the most popular short trips in Scotland, starting from 
Glasgow, is by Loch Lomond and Loch Katrine to Callander, 
and from there to Hdinburgh. This takes one through the cele- 
brated Trossachs, and much other scenery that is grand and 
beautiful 

From Edinburgh excursions are made to Melrose Abbey, Abbots- 
ford, Roslin Castle and Dryburgh Abbey. Should this be all the 
time the hurrying tourist can spare for Scotland — and it usually 
is— he will enter England either on its west side via the Lake 
District or on the east side through the cathedral towns of 
Durham, York, Lincoln and Peterborough, and so make his way 
toward London. 

England.— England is a land of all that is beautiful in rural 
scenery, quaint villages fringing magnificent estates, on whose 
velvety lawns browse herds of deer and cattle — alternating with 
busy manufacturing cities where the din of machinery and the 
bustle of trade are never-ceasing; and the villages, towns and 
cities are so numerous that they seem almost to run together. 

One can easily wheel from Liverpool to London in four days, 
but if he does even scant justice to what is worth seeing en route, 
it will take him at least double that amount of time. 

The cities of England may be grouped into two distinct classes. 
The great industrial centres of Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, 
Liverpool and Sheffield are thoroughly modern and growing as 
rapidly as most American cities. Chester, York and Canterbury 
present a delicious aspect of olden times, and when walking on 
their ancient walls or through their quaint streets one seems to be 
set back to days long gone. 

The natural scenery, while never approaching grandeur, is 
always pleasing. In America the English lakes would hardly 
rise above the dignity of ponds, and the mountains would be 
called good sized hills. But everything is beautifully smooth and 
cleared up — no dead trees, no stony fields, no litter of any kind. 
Here Nature has her hair combed as nowhere else. The green 
lanes, the hedgerow-bordered highways, the "stately homes of 
England " rearing their towers through avenues of mighty oaks, 
the thatch-roofed cottages, the teeming life on the great thorough- 
fares, present a constantly changing panorama most entrancing 
to the American on his first visit to the mother country. 

London is a world in itself, and the length of tirne you give to 
it must depend upon its attraction for you, and the time at your 
command. It does not instantly charm, like Paris; but it grows 
upon you constantly, and if you stay long enough, you will end 
by preferring it to any other city in Europe. 

'1 here are seven steamer routes between England and France, 
viz : Dover— Calais, Folkstone — Boulogne, Newhaven — Dieppe, 



THE SUBJECT IN OUTLINE. » 

Southampton— Havre, Southampton — St. Malo, Southampton — 
Bordeaux, and London— Dunkirk. The first three are the shortest 
and most popular. The passenger rates are high, and the accom- 
modations are not over luxurious, but you will in all probability 




The Walls of York, England. 



get your money's worth of shaking up in the choppy channel, and 
be glad to step upon the shore cf 

France. — For the cyclist there is no country equal to France 
Its highways are the finest in the world, its architecture among 
the noblest, its mountains the highest, and its valleys the deepest. 
The fertile plains of Picardy, the picturesque cities of Normandy, 
the castles and palaces of Touraine, the deep combes and high 
plateaux of the Juras, melodious with the bells of numberless herds, 
can all be enjoyed while en route to Switzerland. In the southern 
part the thermal springs and wonderful extinct volcanoes of 
Auvergne, the Gorges of the Tarn, the slopes of the Pyre- 
nees and the Mediterranean coast from Marseilles to Genoa are 
among the almost numberless attractions presented to the cycling 
traveler. In Nimes and Aries are to be found Roman remains 
surpassing anything of the kind outside of Rome itself, while 



II) 



CYCLING IX EUROPE. 



hidden in the recesses of its mountains lie hundreds of curative 
mineral springs, some of which have a world-wide celebrity as 
Royat, Mont Dore, Bourboule, Vichy, Eaux Bonnes, etc., etc. 

To enumerate one half of the delightful trips that can be made 
in France would easily fill a book the size of this. And yet the 
attractions of France, outside of Paris, have been much neg- 
lected by American travelers. The language may have some- 
thing to do with this, for the Frenchman thinks his own language 
the best in the world and does not trouble himself to learn 
another, even when his patrons are largely composed of English 
and Americans. 




Lincoln Cathedral, England. 

To Mr. Joseph Pennell, the artist and Foreign Consul of the 
L. A. W., is due the credit of calling attention, by his pen and 
pencil, to many of the most interesting spots, from the cyclist's 
point of view, in this most interesting country. 

Switzerland. — At first thought, it would seem as though this 
little country, made up so largely of lakes and mountains, would 
offer but little inducement to wheelmen. But well-constructed 
roads, not always kept up as carefully as they should be, run 
along the shores of its beautiful lakes and over its mountain 



THE SUBJECT IN OUTLINE. 



il 



passes, affording much pleasurable riding. There are often long 
grades up which one must walk, but there is compensation in the 
glorious ''coasts" on the other side. 

Switzerland is a land of natural beauty and grandeur. Its 
scenery is of the first order. Its snow capped mountains tower to 
the skies, its lakes are of the most heavenly blue, its waterfalls 
are visions of tossing mist, its ravines, gorges and passes present 
new scenes of beauty at every turn of the road — and the roads are 
continually turning. While enjoying to the full the magic of 
its spell, one feels that Copper was right in calling it " The 
noblest of all earthly regions." 

The chief source of revenue to its inhabitants is the visitors 
from all parts of the world who penetrate every crevice and 
corner of the little republic in search of health and pleasure. 
The Swiss were quick to see that good hotels at reasonable rates 
would tend to retain what their mountains had attracted, and it 
has thus come about that they are acknowledged to be the best 
landlords in Europe. A hotel is to be found in every expected 
and unexpected place. All the employees of these hotels speak 
several languages and the wants of the traveler are most careiullv 
looked after. You will be delighted with Switzerland, especially 
if you have good weather. 




Roau Scene in Normandy, Showing Cantonnier's Shelter. 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



If you are unfortunate in this respect, you lose nearly all the 
country has to offer, for there is no architecture that you have not 
seen better examples of in other countries. In Berne, Freiburg 
and Lucerne one may listen to some of the finest organ music in 
the world, and Geneva, Interlaken and Zurich support fine casinos, 
where first-class orchestral music is discoursed daily. 

Italy.— To enjoy a trip awheel through Italy, one should either 
be there in April-May or September-October. During the sum- 
mer months the fierce rays of the southern sun beat down with 



wilting effect, and to dismount while 




Entering a Norman Village. 



a perspiration and enter 
any one of the number- 
less stone churches or 
palaces which in their 
atmosphere resemble 
nothing so much as 
that of a cave, is to 
invite pneumonia and 
death. A continuous 
tour awheel can hardly 
be made in Italy with 
comfort, as the roads 
vary from good to very 
bad, and the hotels in 
the smaller places are 
anything but comfort- 
able. There are, how- 
ever, some parts of the 
country that may be 
explored on ,ne bicycle with ease and pleasure, such as the 
country bordering the northern lakes, the coa^-t from Genoa to 
Spezia, and the road from Florence to Rome. There are othe- 
routes equally good for wheeling, but in planning a tour through 
Italy, information as to what may be expected on the route 
should first be obtained from reliable sources. 

Germany. — Germany, the land of good beer and better music, 
abounds in beautiful districts, where the wheelman fi.ids all that 
he could expect or desire — fine roads, splendid cities, delightful 
little villages, beautiful scenery, good hotels and pleasant people. 
The regions of the Black Forest and tie Rhine valley are 
especially fine, and the country of the Rhenish Palatinate presents 
a rare picture of rural beauty, enhanced by many ruined castles 
perched upon rounded hilltops in the most picturesque manner 
imaginable Within the valley of the Rhine are located many of 
the most celebrated watering-places of Germany, such as Baden- 
Baden, Wiesbaden, Kreuznach and Ems, where splendid hotels 
line the principal avenues, which extend into the country to still 
other beautiful resorts. At these places there are always fine 
pleasure grounds, within which are the casino and first-class 
orchestra. Here also are branch stores of the leading jewelers, 



THE SUBJECT IN OUTLINE. 13 

glass workers, photographers, dealers in curios, fine leather 
work, perfumery, laces, etc., etc., from all parts of the world, 
who congregate at these places to catch the money of the tourist. 
There is plenty of bad tasting water, served by maidens in 
national costumes, either for a small fee or gratis, and there are 
finely equipped bath houses, where the service and attendance is 
beyond criticism. 

At Bingen begins a succession of castle-crowned hills, clothed 
from base to summit with vineyards, through which the Rhine 
hurries on its way to the sea. A splendid highway follows both 
banks and one can stop and climb up to the castles of the old 
robber barons, some of which are in ruins and some fully restored. 




Market Scene in Douai, France. 

You will pass through many great cities such as Strassburg, 
Frankfort, Mayence, Coblentz, Bonn and Cologne, all of which 
contain much that is worth seeing; and so you pass on to 

Holland. — Everyone knows that Holland is flat, but it is diffi- 
cult to realize how flat until it is visited. To one accustomed to 
hills and valleys it is difficult to realize that he will not come to 
elevated ground sooner or later. The canals with their barges 
and stoom-boats, the quaint villages with gardens in which the 
trees are trained into the shape of fans, sugarloaves, and various 



n 



CYCLING IN EUROTE. 



other fantastic forms, the vast plains of pastureland, with their 
herds of cattle and horses, the ever present windmills, with their 
monotonous tac-tac ; the meadows bright with white and yellow 
flowers, and long lines of poplar and willow intersecting them at 
intervals, the handsome towns, with their evidence of wealth, 
culture and commerce, and the tall masts of ships, vieing with the 
spires of the churches, cause one to realize that Holland is like 
no other country, and seems, in its outward aspect, to have 
changed little if any from the time of Goldsmith, when he 
described it in the " Traveller," a century and a half ago : 

"The slow canal, the yellow blossomed vale, 
The willow tufted banks, the gliding sail, 
The busy mart, the cultivated plain ; 
A new creation rescued from his reign." 
The land highways are nearly all constructed of brick, and 
afford good riding on pneumatic tires. Oftentimes the roads run 

parallel with, but a few 
feet below, the canals, 
and you have the queer 
sensation of seeing the 
" gliding sails " of the 
canal boats far above 
your head. At other 
times the road leads 
over the top of the 
dyke, and you can see 
below you fertile field", 
whose bounteous crops 
are being carefully 
tended by sabot-clad 
The Road to Rouen. laborers. Many of the 

roads are bordered by 
magnificent elm trees, which here attain unusual size, affording 
most grateful shade. The stretch of road between Arnheim and 
Utrecht (40 miles) is of this description, and for miles is com- 
pletely embowered. 

In the cities of Amsterdam and The Hague are noted museums 
of art, while Rotterdam presents a scene of commercial activity 
different from any other seaport. We think you will enjoy 
Holland, and if you have good weather — it rains easily in this 
watery country — we feel sure that you will. 

I would like to speak of the other portions of Europe where the 
cyclist would find delight in wandering, of Norway and its fjords 
and mountain passes, of the little Isle of Man, the scene of Hall 
Caine's stories, and the pleasure ground of west of England folk ; 
of the Ardennes region in Belgium and Dauphine in France. 
But our purpose is not to prove that there are places across the 
Atlantic well worth the visiting. That is not disputed by any one. 
You may, however, be interested by some remarks on the roads. 




II. 

THE ROADS AND OTHER MATTERS. 

the roads of great britain, ireland and france — excellence 
of the french system — sharp flints of normandy ; how they 
puncture the tire —swiss and german roads — the roads 
of norway ; when to go— best months for visiting different 
countries — what it costs to travel in europe: three prin- 
cipal items ; cost of transportation ; steamer rates and 
accommodations; "express" and "regular" steamers; 
hotels, and hotel charges in different countries; rooms, 
beds and meals — french customs and methods — the hotels 
of switzerland, germany, holland, italy and norway. 

The Roads. — In great Britain and Ireland the best roads are 
all made on the system laid down by Macadam, and are generally 
well taken care of in England and Scotland, but often neglected 
in Ireland. They are seldom straight for any considerable dis- 
tance and present charming views at every turn. 

In France the system of road building is similar but is carried 
out with much greater thoroughness, a well drilled army of men 
being constantly employed in the construction and repair of the 
national highways. The country is divided into departments, 
and each department is in charge of a chief of engineers. The 
departments are divided into arrondissements, which are 
looked after by assistant engineers. All roads in their charge are 
visited and examined by them at least quarterly, and oftener if 
necessary. These engineers have lieutenants called conductors, 
who oversee certain lengths of road which they must look over at 
least semi-monthly. Then come the " cantonniers," who do the 
manual labor, each one caring for about two miles of road. These 
are the men you see working upon the roads as you ride along. 
They have shelters or movable houses in which they seek refuge 
during storms, and keep their tools; just so much broken stone 
must be kept on hand all the time; the turf is not allowed to 
encroach beyond its lawful bounds, and after a storm the canton- 
niers may be seen driving sticks into the depressions of the road 
brought to light by the water; later on these depressions are 
filled up with the broken stone. Each cantonnier, who must be 
able to read and write, has an account book and a register, and 
keeps a daily account of his work and the time occupied on each 
task. At the end of each month the conductor recapitulates the 
account and sends it to the engineer. The great roads are called 
" national roads," and radiate from Paris like the spokes of a 



16 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



wheel, to all parts of the frontier. They often run for many 
miles in a perfectly straight line, and where this happens the 
touring cyclist can see his work laid out for him for a long dis- 
tance ahead, and finds it monotonous. But these great highways 
are not always straight by any means, and often wind through 
the valleys and over the hills in most delightful fashion. They 




Hotel de Ville Compeigne, France. 



are frequently bordered by Lombardy poplars, which shade the 
road from the full glare of the sun, but do not prevent the admis- 
sion of a sufficient amount of light and air to keep the road dry. 
The town and village " chaussees," while not kept up so carefully, 
are constructed on the same lines, and as they wind, through the 



THE ROADS AND OTHER MATTERS. 



i: 



picturesque villages are apt to be more interesting than the Route 
National. Throughout Normandy the road is surfaced with a 
hard flint, which wears the tire of a bicycle like a steel file, and 
small particles of which have points as sharp as needles. These 
little pieces of flint will puncture a thin American tire with the 
greatest ease, but make a hole so small that it is often difficult to 
find it. One such tire was punctured fourteen times in one fore- 
noon in 1896. French tires are made much heavier for this 



reason. 

Swiss and German roads imitate the French, and while often 
equal to, are more often inferior to them. The Swiss especially 
are allowing some of their finest roads to sadly deteriorate, a 
result due to the increase of railroads, and a false notion of 
economy. The Duchy of Baden has the best roads in all Germany, 
and a tour through the Black Forest affords much fine riding. 




"The Fertile Fields of Picardy," France. 

In Norway the roads are composed of a mixture of sand and 
clay, and are kept in excellent repair. They are more elastic than 
macadamized roads, but after a heavy rain the surface is trans- 
formed into a sticky paste, that nearly pulls one's shoes from one's 
feet. 



18 CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



WHEN TO GO. 



In planning a tour it is well to bear in mind that the time of 
year in which you visit a country has much to do with the impres- 
sion it makes upon you. Any country seen only under leaden 
skies in bleak weather, leaves a dismal remembrance, while the 
same place visited when the sun is shining and the flowers are in 
bloom, causes you to think of it as a bright spot in the tour. On 
a long trip one must expect more or less bad weather, which is 
liable to occur at any time, and there are other matters to be 
taken into consideration besides weather. 

Ireland, England and the northern part of Normandy are at 
their best during May and June. The southern part of Ireland 
is especially lovely in May, and there is then a freshness and 
brightness in the air and sky that I have seen at no other time. 
The same is true of England, and if one is going over the regula- 
tion tourist routes, he will find the hotels less crowded than later 
on, and will consequently receive better attention. May is the 
time to be in London. At that time "Everybody" is in town, 
the best entertainments are on at the theatres, and all the public 
places are at their best. It may be well to remark here that 
Great Britain and Ireland are subject to frequent rains at all 
times of the year — much more than with us — and it is safe to 
count on its raining one-third of the time. Of course this is not 
always true, and you may be fortunate enough to be favored with 
along spell of dry weather; but it is not at all safe to count on 
such luck, and in planning your trip be sure and allow plenty of 
time to wait while the clouds roll by. 

If I could so arrange it I should plan to be in Paris during the 
month of June. In July and August it is often intensely hot, and 
the hotels crowded. For a tour through Touraine and Lower 
Normandy there is no month like September. Then you will ride 
for miles through orchards loaded with apples and pears, which 
can be bought for a trifle in the market places of the towns. Then 
the air is clear and crisp and the sound of the harvesters at work 
is on every hand. 

It is generally acknowledged by old travelers that July is the 
best month in Switzerland. The weather is settled by that time, 
and although everything is ready for the many tourists who are 
sure to come toward the last of the month the crowds them- 
selves have not arrived, and there is plenty of room for all. After 
the fourteenth of July prices go up at all the hotels, and the land- 
lords and their employees, who before were anxious to secure 
your favor, now that their houses are full, pay little attention to 
the humble wheelman's wants, and charge roundly for so doing. 

I have never found August the best time of year for any place ; 
yet August is the month when everybody is abroad and summer 
travel is at its height, and if you desire to see the fashionable 



THE ROADS AND OTHER MATTERS. 



19 



world amusing itself, you should then visit Brighton in England, 
Trouville in France, Ostend in Belgium or Schevemngen in Hol- 
land- and if you happen to be conveniently near to the Isle ot 
Man 'you can, at Douglas, the chief town of the island, see such 
a roaring mob of merrymakers, such crowds of Lancashire lads 
and lasses all bent on making the most of their brief vacation, that 
Coney Island immediately suggests itself. 

April or September is the time for Southern France, preferably 
April, for at that time it is the season at Nice, Monte Carlo, Men- 




Street Scene in a French Farming Village. 

tone etc., and everything in the pleasure line is in full swing- 
While you are on this part of the Mediterranean coast be sure and 
make the trip from Nice to Genoa via the Route de la Corniche, 
one of the most beautiful highways in the world. It is better to 
ride from Nice to Genoa than in the reverse direction, for by so 
doing vou will be more likely to have the mistral in your back 
instead of your face, in which latter case riding is impossible. 

The mistral is a northwest wind, and one of the drawbacks ot 
this otherwise delightful region. It is a violent bitterly cold and 
drying wind. It fills the streets and roads with dust and debris 



20 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



of every description; it blows over wagons and trees, and the 
writer was once fairly blown off his wheel while trying to tack 
against it. The only way is to go with it. It often lasts for days 
at a time. 

While on the subject of wind it might be well to state that if 
you wheel from Paris to Switzerland, you will find the prevailing 
winds against you, and you may be obliged to battle for days 
with head winds which, in this comparatively treeless country, 
have full swing over the roads. Unless you have plenty of time. 
I would advise that you do the distance between Paris and the 
Juras by train. But go over the Juras on, or with your wheel, 
for the scenery is wonderfully fine, and the descent into Switzer- 
land, from whatever point you make it, is worth the climb up, 
many times over. The roads, through this district, are splendid 
specimens of engineering. 

The prevailing winds, on the Rhine, are up the river, but they 
are not of sufficient force or frequency to make it a serious 
matter. 

WHAT IT COSTS TO TRAVEL IN EUROPE. 

This is a subject that has been discussed constantly since 
Americans first began to make the Grand Tour, and on no 
other point has there been so much difference of opinion. 



This is probably because people': 




Fountain 



Rouen. 



deas differ so greatly 
as to what constitute 
comforts and necessi- 
ties, and -each traveler 
bases his opinion from 
the standpoint of his 
own experience. In 
estimating the expense 
of a European trip, there 
are three principal items 
to be considered, viz. : 
(i) The cost of steamer 
passage over and back, 
(2) hotel bills, and (3) 
miscellaneous items, 
such as occasional rides 
in the steam cars, tickets 
to places of amusement, 
repairs to self or wheel, 
etc., etc. Let us first 
consider the transporta- 
tion question. 

New York, Boston and 
Philadelphia are the 



three principal ports from which steamers leave for the various 
ports of Europe. From November till May several transatlantic 



THE ROADS AND OTHER MATTERS. 



tl 



lines sail from Portland, but during the summer months these 
boats sail from Montreal and Quebec. The principal lines are as 
follows : 

American New York to Southampton. 

Hamburg-American " " and Hamburg. 

North German Lloyd " Bremen. 

Company General Transatlantic " Havre. 

Holland -America " Boulogne (France) and Rotterdam. 

White Star -. " Queenstown (Ireland; and Liverpool. 

Cunard " " " " 

Anchor Line " Londonderry ( Ireland) and Glasgow. 

Red Star " Antwerp. 

Tbingvalla c , . . . " Copenhagen and Christiania. 

North German Lloyd " Genoa and Naplef. 

Prince Line " Naples. 

Atlantic Transport Company " London. 

Allan State Line " Glasgow. 

Cunard Boston to Queenstown and Liverpool. 

Dominion " " " " 

Leyland " " " " 

Allan (November to May) Portland to Londonderry and Liverpool. 

American Philadelphia to Liverpool. 

The steamers employed by the various companies vary^from 
four thousand to twelve thousand tons in size, and take from six 
to twelve days in making the passage. They also vary greatly 
as to the sumptuousness of their fittings, the quality of food 
served and naturally the price of passage. The great lines, such 
as the North German Lloyd, Cunard, White Star, Hamburg- 
American and Company General Transatlantic run two kinds of 




Donjon of Courcey, France. 



&2 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



boats, called "Express" and "Regular." The American line 
from New York are all "Express" steamers. These Express 
steamers are from ten to twelve thousand tons burthen, and 
make the passage in six days or less. They are magnificently 
furnished, the cuisine equals that of the best hotels, and full dress 
for dinner is considered the proper thing. It is on these boats 
that the majority of the wealthy and distinguished people cross 
the Atlantic, and, if a passenger, you would be likely to come in 
contact with more or less noted people — likewise some whose sole 
claim to notice is their wealth. The cost of a first-class passage 
on these steamers ranges from $75 to §500, one way. The regular 
steamers are very similar in furnishings and table, from seven to 
eight thousand tons burthen, are a day or two slower, and the 
price of passage ranges from $75 to $150. 

The "Express" boats of the Holland- America and Dominion 
lines are fine, new boats, of about nine thousand tons, not quite so 
elegantly fitted up as the ones mentioned above, but still very 
fine, with splendid decks, take from seven to eight days to make 
the passage, and the price is from $75 to $150. 

The Boston service of the Cunard line is composed of the older 
and smaller boats of the company, about six thousand tons, and 
take ten days in going to Queenstown and eleven to Liverpool. 
They are safe and comfortable boats, and the price for first-class 
passage ranges from $65 to $125 one way. 

Another type of boat is that represented by the "Cymric" of 
the White Star line, and the American liners sailing from Phila- 
delphia, the Atlantic Transport Company from New York, and 
Leyland line from Boston. These are steamers of immense size 
(8,000 to 12,000 tons), but built more for great freight and cattle 

carrying capacity than 
for passengers. Being 
very broad of beam, and 
often fitted with false 
keels on each side of the 
main keel, in order to 
keep them from rolling, 
that the cattle may not 
be injured, they are ex- 
ceedingly steady boats, 
and by no means slow, 
eight days being about 
the usual time of pas- 
sage. The staterooms 
are very comfortable, 
and the table good. 
They carry no second or 
The rate of passage is from $60 to $75. 
are from four thousand to six thousand 




The Wayside Shrine. A Rural Scene 
in Normandy. 



third class passengers. 
The Allan-State line 
ton boats, and the rate is from $45 to $75 



THE ROADS AND OTHER MATTERS. 



23 




Should you be able to get away as early as April, you could 
secure passage on good boats from Portland to Liverpool, return- 
ing via Montreal, for from $75 to $100 for the round trip. These 
are first-class sea boats, nicely fitted up, and you would probably 
be as comfortable as on the finest ship afloat. 

Nearly all lines take 
passengers in the second 
or intermediate cabin at 
about twenty per cent, 
below the first-class cab- 
in prices. The principal 
objection to the second 
cabin is that passengers 
in this class are not al- 
lowed the use of the 
promenade deck, which 
is by all odds the best 
part of the ship and where 
one is least likely to be 
seasick. Then your state 
room in the second cabin 
is likely to be either be- 
low the water line, where 
the air is bad, or in the 
stern, where the motion 
of the boat is very appar- 
ent. But many very nice 
people go this way, and if the saving of time is as much of 
an object as the limit of expense you could get an extra week 
on the other side by going this way and at no greater expense 
than if you went first-class on a slower boat. If, however, 
you have the time, I advise that you take first-class passage on a 
less expensive steamer, and be a little longer on the voyage ; you 
will remember it with greater pleasure. 

It is evident from all this that your round trip passage will cost 
you anywhere from $100.00 to $300.00, to which must be added 
from $3 00 to $5 00 for fees to steward, and $2.50 for transporta- 
tion of your wheel. My own idea is that if you are not a good 
sailor, and do not wish to pay a large sum for passage money, it 
will be best to secure a good stateroom near the middle of the 
ship on one of the big freighters. This will in all probability give 
you the most comfortable voyage for the least money. If you are 
not afraid of mal de mer, and are ambitious to cross with the 
"swell mob" and to mingle with the upper ten of this world's 
people, without paying too high for the privilege, write early 
and secure the cheapest first-class passage on one of the great 
liners. This means rooming with ihree or four people below the 
water line. But as you are only in your berth during sleeping 
hours, this slight discomfort is of little consequence, and in all the 



Old Castle at Vires, France. 



24 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



privileges of deck, table, etc., you are on an equality with the best 
on board. These berths are always spoken for a long way in 
advance of the date of sailing, so apply early. 

I have known vigorous, adventure-loving young men to make 
the round trip in the steerage at a total expense of $50.00. I have 
also known them to go as cattle tenders and so get their passage 
gratis. 

The cost of passage having been settled, the next matter to 
be considered is the hotels. 

In Ireland the hotels are apt to be poor, and somewhat 
expensive; but they are improving each year, and some of them, 
notably those recently erected by the Southern and Western 
Railway Companies in the south of Ireland, and called '* South. 




En Route for Parts. 

era" hotels, are very good indeed. In my travels through that 
country I found that I saved money and trouble by buying 
Cook's hotel tickets. This great tourist company has arrange- 
ments with two classes of hotels in Ireland, first-class, and 
good, but less pretentious houses. The price per day for the 
first class is" $2. GO, for the other $1.90. These prices include 
lodging, plain breakfast (coffee and rolls), luncheon and dinner. 
It is also supposed to include service, but should you wish to 
remember the waiter, the opportunity will not be wanting. Hotel 
tickets not used will be redeemed by the company. 

As you will undoubtedly be a member of the Cyclists' Touring 
Club, I advise that while in England you patronize the hotels on 



The roads and other matters. 25 

their list. While not always the finest hotels in town, they are 
almost invariably good, comfortable places, where the wheelman is 
cordially received. The expense varies with the pretensions of the 
hotel, but $2.50 per day is a fair average, the charges being as fol- 
lows: room, 75c. ; plain breakfast, 36c; dinner, 75c; plain tea, 
38c ; attendance, 25c. This certainly does not seem high, but a 
"plain" breakfast or tea means simply bread and butter, jam'or 
marmalade, tea or coffee. If you wistrham and^eggs, or chops, or 




Gateway of Pierrefonds Casiie. 

fish, it will add 25c. to each breakfast or supper. As most Ameri- 
cans are accustomed to something more than a plain breakfast it 
is generally ordered. Then you might order a bottle of beer (12c), 
or a fire in your room (25c), and you might tip the chambermaid 
a sixpence for her good looks and pleasant ways, and the hostler 
another sixpence, ostensibly for looking after your wheel, but 
really because he wants it. And so, if you are not careful, you go 
over the $3.00 mark by considerable. These prices obtain only in 
the large places; in small towns the charges are less. In regard 
to this question of expense let me here quote from an article on 



36 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



wheeling in England, written by a lady who went over, the past 
year, for a short trip through that country: 

" In twenty-one days' traveling by bicycle in England one can 
take in five cathedral towns, visit Oxford and Shakespeare's coun- 
try, allow herself a few days in London, and, including the cost of 
her voyage over the ocean and home again, accomplish a delight- 
ful outing for about $250. Of course traveling at this rate does 
not permit passage on an ocean greyhound, putting up at the 
smart hotels and a couple of big trunks by way of baggage; but 
it offers excellent scope for those who are fond of wheeling and 
sight-seeing to do a half of one European country at a minimum 
of cost and a maximum of solid ease and pleasure. In the twenty- 
one days in England we spent $63 for the actual cost of living. 
The items in our account books ran rather like this: A night's 
lodging and breakfast at the White Horse Inn, $1.25; dinner, 
75c. ; luncheon, 25c. ; tips, 25c. Everywhere we went the food 
was clean, plentiful, and served with a sauce of civility that 
charmed us. A sixpence was all the douceiir we left in the hand of 
the chambermaid, who showered blessings on us, at our departure, 
and often for the merest trifle we made our luncheon at some cot- 
tager's table on fresh milk, eggs and strawberries. Altogether we 
concluded that with care a delightful outing is to be had in Eng- 
land at $3.00 per day." 

In nearly every town there are little inns that have a sign out 
saying " Accommodations for Cyclists," where $1.50 per day will 
pay the bill Some of these little inns are pretty good and some are 
pretty bad; hardly as good places as you would stop at if you 

were traveling in your 
own country, but we 
sometimes smother our 
pride when far from our 
friends and acquaint- 
ances England has been 
"done" on $1.00 a day, 
for I once met a man who 
claimed to have per- 
formed that feat; but an 
average daily expense of 
about $3.00 would make 
life better worth living. 
The rooms and beds in 
the English hotels are exceedingly neat and clean, and the sanitary 
arrangements fair. You must not expect the variety of food in 
an English hotel that you are accustomed to in the United States. 
Before your tour in that country is over you will think you have 
dined principally on roast beef, ham and eggs and mutton chop. 
These articles of diet, with now and then a fish or meat pie is 
about the limit of the culinary art in the small hotels in Great 
Britain. Their "sweets," as their tarts and puddings are called, 




Castle of Pierrefonds, France. 



THE ROADS AND OTHER MATTERS. 



27 



are not worth considering. However, the roast beef, and ham and 
eggs and chops are almost always excellent and those who are 
content with simple but substantial fare will find little to complain 
of In the medium-priced hotels, such as we have been consider- 
ing there will be no gas in the rooms, but there will be a supply of 
bedroom candles on every floor. The common room for gentle- 
men is the tap- room at one side, or in the rear of the bar, where 
a woman is constantly employed serving up various drinks, usually 
ale or whisky, to the travelers and local patrons, who meet here 
to take a social glass and talk horse— the races supplying staple 
topic of conversation and interest at most of these places. 1 here 




French Road, Bordered by Lombardy Poplars. 



28 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



is also a cozy little room for ladies, where everything is very com- 
fortable and homelike. 

One of the marked differences between the hotels of Europe 
(and especially of Great Britain) and the United States is the 
manner in which meals are served. Here there is a common 




Public Square, Beauvais, France. 

dining-room in which meals are served between certain hours, 
and you take care to be on hand in season. In Europe you will, 
if you are wise, order your breakfast the night before, specifying 
what you will have and when you will have it. At the appointed 
time you, or your party, will find your breakfast ready; there 
may be other patrons taking their breakfast in the same room, 
but more likely there will not; the landlord seems to have special 
dining or coffee rooms all over the house, and several parties are 
often being served in as many different places. As these rooms 
are usually as far from the kitchen as possible — often up a flight 
of stairs, half a dozen waiters are often running themselves out 
of breath, in order to serve not over a dozen people. The waiter 
is a more important personage than with us. It is to him you 
give the order anent your meals, and it is he that brings you your 
bill on a silver salver, at which momentous moment you reward 
his faithfulness with a fee, varying according to your length of 
stay, the pretentiousness of the house and your liberality. A 
shilling is ample in most cases, — sometimes too much. 



THE ROADS AND OTHER MATTERS. 29 

In France you will find the hotel arrangements distinctly dif- 
ferent from those of Great Britain. In England it is customary 
to have a hearty breakfast in the morning, and a cold lunch at 
noon ; in France cafe au lait and rolls, served either in your bed- 
room or somewhere else, often outdoors, is the regular morning 
meal, while the real breakfast, or "premier dejeuner," is served 
at about eleven o'clock. Dinner is served at about 6 p. m. ; and 
is the most elaborate meal of the day. The sleeping rooms are 
generally clean, often elaborately furnished with plate glass 
mirrors, and French clocks that are never going. The cuisine is 
better, but the sanitary arrangements are not as good as at the 
English hotels If you patronize the hotels recommended by the 
C. T. C. or the Touring Club de France (generally commercial 
hotels) your daily expense should not exceed $2.00. It may some- 
times be a little more, and sometimes a little less, but it ought to 
average as I have said. The items will be something as follows: 
Room, 50c. ; cafe aulait, 20c. ; premier dejeuner, 50c. ; table d'hote, 
60c. ; lights, service and attendance, 20c. ; total, $2 00. 

If the cafe au lait and rolls are not enough on which to do a 
forenoon's "run" you had better order eggs in some form, the 
night before, for which they will probably charge you an additional 
twenty cents. You might succeed in getting some kind of meat 
or fish, but you would probably have some difficulty in so doing, 
and it would hardly be worth the trouble and expense. 

Wine or cider is generally furnished free at the six o'clock 
table d'hote; better wine may be ordered at a reasonable charge, 
if what is furnished is not to your liking. 

If you are in a place of any size, the regulation thing to do after 
dinner is to step over to the best cafe in the town, order a glass 
of cafe noir (strong coffee without milk), which will be served you 
on a little table on the sidewalk in front of the cafe, and pass a 
pleasant hour digesting your dinner and seeing the life on the 
streets. You may not like the coffee at first, but you will soon 
acquire the habit, and come to regard this hour of the day as one 
of the pleasantest. 

Meals are always served in courses in France, and in nearly all 
other European countries. This is often exasperating to Ameri- 
cans, who object to having meat for one course, beans for another, 
cauliflower for another, etc. But so it is, and the best way is 
not to rebel against the custom of the country, but to make sure 
of the article composing the course when it comes to you — for it 
seldom comes back. Continental landlords figure very closely, 
and rather err on the score of providing too little, rather than too 
much. However, one need never go hungry if he will only eat 
what is set before him and ask no questions. There are some 
inquisitive people who always insist on knowing what they are 
eating ; but if the food served looks good, tastes good and does 
you good, what is the need ? Eels and rabbits figure frequently 
in the menu, aud you will soon learn to like them. 



30 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



Switzerland so abounds in hotels of every description, that one 
can lodge and dine in any style and at any price. Meals are 
generally served on the French plan, and the expense can be 
kept at from $2.00 to $3.00 per day, easily. If you can afford it, I 
think you will often do well, while in this little country, to stop at 
the finest hotels, at but a slight increase in cost if you take the 
cheapest rooms, as these hotels are nearly always located in the 
best situations for viewing the scenery, and scenery is what you 
are after in Switzerland. Hotels like the " Jungfrau " at Inter- 
laken, ''Belle Vue " at Zurich, and " Schweizerhof " at the Falls 
of the Rhine had better be patronized if the tourist is stopping 
but a day or two in each place, and the expense need not exceed 
$3.00 per day at any hotel of this class. 

On the regular tourist route in Germany, you can count on 
your hotels costing you from $2.00 to $4.00, as you may elect, and 
in small places you can easily limit your expenses to $1.25 per day. 
The hotels are very similar, in all their arrangements, to the 
hotels of France and Switzerland. 




Street Scene, Beauvais, France. 



Holland is the most expensive country in Europe as regards 
hotels, and the cheapest as regards the price of cigars. From 
$2.50 to $3.00 per day should be reckoned in your estimate for 
hotel expenses. There are places where you can stay for less, but 
they are not to be recommended. The cuisine of Dutch hotels is 
somewhat heavy and greasy, and the cooks use cinnamon and nut- 
meg with too lavish a hand in seasoning nearly every article of 
food (grated nutmeg on green peas is not to our taste). In Hoi- 



THE ROADS AND OTHER MATTERS. 



ill 



land you are soon brought to realizing sense that the Dutch con- 
trol the spice trade. But for all that Holland should be visited if 
possible. 

Italy and Norway, the two extremes of the Continent, are the 
two cheapest countries as regards hotel prices. In neither coun- 
try need your expenses exceed $2.00 per day, and oftener they are 
less. 

It is evident in these remarks about hotels that I have refrained 
from speaking of boarding-houses and the great hotels. If one 
intends staying in a place for a week or longer it is often advisable 
to stop at one of the former as being cheaper and more homelike. 
Prices vary from $1.25 to $1.75 per day, everything included. 
There is an association of boarding-houses or pensions that 
extends from Liverpool to Rome or Berlin. The houses on its list 
may be relied on as being thoroughly good of the kind, and you 
may go from one to another with perfect confidence. 

Hotels of the first class are, of course, only to be found in the 
great cities or the fashionable winter and summer resorts. Many 
of them are splendidly appointed, and if money is no object one 
can easily soar into the realms of luxury, which is a very pleasant 
thing to do, but not what the average wheelman is after. 




^smm 



III. 

USEFUL HINTS AND INFORMATION. 

THE QUESTION OF DRINK; SCARCITY OF ENGLISH WELLS — SAME CON- 
DITION IN NORMANDY — PUBLIC FOUNTAINS IN THE JURAS, SWITZ- 
ERLAND, THE BLACK FOREST, GERMANY AND NORWAY — GERMAN 
BEER — CROSSING THE CHANNEL; THE MATTER OF FEES AND 
TIPS — BETTER TO ACCEPT THE INEVITABLE — REGULATING THE 
AMOUNT — ESTIMATING THE TOTAL - LAUNDRY BILLS— TOTAL 
EXPENSES PER DAY; THE AMOUNT AND WHAT IT SHOULD 
INCLUDE; PREPARATION FOR A TOUR — BEST GUIDE BOOKS — THE 
CYCLISTS' TOURING CLUB — LEARNING TO SPEAK FRENCH — ROAD 
MAPS AND THEIR COST — PASSPORTS — HOW TO CARRY MONEY — 
PRACTICAL HINTS — PERSONAL OUTFIT — NECESSARY CLOTHING AND 
EQUIPMENT FOR WHEEL. 

While riding on the road the question of drink is often upper- 
most. England is not a good country for an American teetotaler. 
Public wells and fountains are few and far between, and the water 
from private wells is not always easily obtained, or good when 
secured. The country is dotted thickly with wayside "pubs," 
where ale and stronger drinks can be had without stint But their 
wares are not good to ride on, and if you order a " lemon squash " 
they charge you sixpence — which makes it rather expensive. So 
you had better drink water, even if it is sometimes an effort to 
get it. 

In Normandy wells are likewise scarce, but at the cafes you can 
purchase various kinds of sweet syrups, a little of which poured 
into a glass, and the glass filled with charged water from a 
siphon, makes the nearest approach to the American soda water 
to be found. The charge for this drink is from three to five cents, 
according to the importance of the cafe. Should the light French 
breakfast be insufficient to sustain you until the midday meal, 
you can generally purchase at a farm house an ample supply of 
bread and milk, than which there is nothing better to allay the 
pangs of hunger. 

Throughout the Juras, in Switzerland, in the Black Forest, down 
the Rhine, and in Norway, public fountains are in every village, 
and with a drinking cup in your possession you need never suffer 
thirst. In Germany, of course, good beer is always obtainable at 
a very low figure, but I have never found it a good beverage to 
ride on, and its devotees will do well to wait until after the day's 
run is over before indulging. 



USEFUL HINTS AND INFORMATION. 33 

It often happens that for some reason or other — because of ill- 
ness, bad weather, a desire to get over uninteresting country, or the 
breaking down of your wheel, you will be obliged to resort to the 
railway for a short distance. In such case, if practicing economy, 
I should travel third class at a cost of two cents a mile. This is 
about the rate of charge all over Europe. In all countries save 
France there is a regular charge for your wheel according to dis- 
tance. In France there is simply a charge of two cents for the 
label that is stuck on the wheel to indicate its destination. 




A Typical Swiss Village. 



In crossing the Irish Sea or English Channel you may on account 
of the outrageous charges— $5 or $6, for a very short distance- 
be tempted to go second class. Don't do it. The best parts of 
these boats are not too good, and there is no place in the world 
where more misery can be compressed within a given time than 
on board one of these uncomfortable boats. 



THE MATTER OF FEES. 

Feeing is a recognized custom throughout Europe and however 
set against the system one may be it cannot always be avoided 
without appearing, and oftentimes actually becoming, niggardly. 
It is true that one could go all over Europe, and give little or 
nothing in the way of fees, but I should not like to be the one to 



3-- 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



do it. Although the practice is often overdone, on"|the whole it 
tends to better personal service than we are apt to'receive from 
the same class of people in this country, and as the "tips," are 
usually small, one often gets value received. Let us see what is 
likely to be expected of us in this matter. 

If crossing on any of the principal English lines your stateroom 
steward and table steward will each expect a half-sovereign 
($2.50); "Boots," will expect two shillings, and if you have 
received attention from the deck steward he must be remembered 
according to his desserts. The chair man looks for a shilling, and 
if there is a band aboard the hat is passed round for the benefit of 




A Swiss Valley Beyond Chamounix. 



the players. There is always a concert or other entertainment 
given during the voyage for the benefit of sick and disabled sailors, 
and this will cost you four shillings. All this amounts to quite a 
little sum. On smaller lines this expense may be reduced one 
half, but whatever the sum may be you will have to pay it, and so 
it will stand you in hand to see to it that you get the service for 
which you pay, being careful also never to fee anybody until the 
voyage is over. The time to tip your stateroom steward is after, 



USEFUL HINTS AND INFORMATION. 



ao 



not before, he has brought your stateroom luggage upon the deck, 
or on the pier after the steamer has got into port. 

At the hotels in England the waiters are constantly looking 
for tips. As a rule a sixpence is ample recompense for any service 
they are likely to give you. At restaurants it is customary to tip 
the waiter one penny in the shilling to the extent of your bill. 

At the cafes in Paris there is an unwritten law that the waiter 
who brings your order, even if it is not more than a glass of cafe 
noir, must receive five or ten centimes (one or two cents). This 
I consider an outrage, and trust there are persons brave enough 




Roau and Tunnel in the Jura Mountains. 



to refuse it, though I have not yet succeeded in getting my courage 
up to this point. On the other hand when some custodian in 
church, palace, museum, etc., has carefully and conscientiously 
shown me what was to be seen I have crossed his palm with a 
clear conscience. Cabmen in the great cities often demand a tip, 
but unless they have driven at an unusual rate of speed in order 
that you might make connections with some train, boat or person, 
they have no reason to expect it. 



:YCLING IN EtfROfE. 



For a summer trip of seventy-five days, from $10.00 to $15. Oft) 
should cover the cost of fees. If you have a lady with you th'ija 
expense is apt to be more. 

Your laundry bill is another expense that must be reckoned in 
the cost of the tour — though it is not likely to be as large as iff 
you remained at home. Plan to have your washing done in somt,5 
place where you will remain at least a day. Make up your bundle* 
as soon as you arrive at the hotel, and when you hand it to the* 
chambermaid be sure to impress upon her the fact that it must 

be done at the earliest', 
possible moment. If youj 
arrive at noon you carl 
almost always have your 
laundry returned to you! 
by the following morn- 
ing. Have as many re- 
movable buttons as pos- 
sible in your shirts, for 
banging them with a 
paddle against a stone 
or wash board, as they 
do in France, is very 
hard on buttons. 

To sum up the whole 
matter of expense it may safely be said that reckoning from the 
time you leave America until you return, a cycle tour in Europe 
can be done very well on $4.00 a day, comfortably on $5.00 and 
liberally on $6.00. This estimate is made on the supposition that 
you will visit the principal places worth seeing on your route, will 
buy a few photographs, and patronize the theatres in London and 
the pleasure resorts (to a limited extent) in Paris. While in London 
I would stop at some good boarding house, where at least two 
meals are included, and when in Paris I would hire a room not 
far from the Place de l'Opera at $1.00 a day, and take my meals 
at the Duval restaurants. So much for the cost of it. 




Swiss Scenery. 



PREPARATION FOR THE TOUR. 



Nothing tends more to the full enjoyment of a tour than 
a knowledge of what is to be seen in the cities and at other 
points along the route you intend to take. If you have but little 
time to spend on this matter you can at least read what the ency- 
clopedia and a good European guide book have to say about them, 
and if you wish to pursue the subject further the number of works 
that treat of foreign tours is almost unlimited. From these sources 
and possibly from what is told you by friends who have already 
been over the ground, you will have a good general idea of how 
much sightseeing must be done in various lands, and thus econo- 



USEFUL HINTS AND INFORMATION. d7 

mize your time to the best advantage. Among the great number 
of guide books Baedeker's are by far the best. They cover every 
country that you will be likely to visit, and range in price from 
$1.80 to $3.00. The agents for the United States are Charles 
Scribner's Sons, 743 Broadway, New York City. 

I would also recommend that you join the Cyclists' Touring 
Club, having headquarters at 47 Victoria Street, Westminster, 
London, S. W. The resident consul in this country is Mr. F. W. 
Weston, Savin Hill, Boston, Mass. The entrance fee is 25 cents, 
and the annual subscription, 65 cents. Membership in the C. T. C. 




The Road to Switzerland. Scene in the*Jura Mountains. 

enables you to pass your wheel through the "custom houses of 
the different continental countries without making a deposit, 
which alone is a great advantage. The C. T. C. Handbook of 
Great Britain (sold to members only) contains a list of two thous- 
and hotels throughout the country, which charge members of the 
club a reduced tariff; the names of one thousand consuls who are 
pledged to help their fellow-members by information and advice; 
the names of over two thousand cycle repairers, ^and much other 
useful information. The club also publishes a Continental, Road 
Book, giving distances between all important places and a list of 
hotels. 



38 CYCLING IN EUROPE. 

Should you intend to do much touring in France I would suggest ' 
that you become a member of the Touring Club de France, the l 
French prototype of the C. T. C. Membership secures free entry 
of wheel into France, Italy, and Belgium. The club furnishes a f 
hand-book full of useful information to one touring in France ; 
also a monthly magazine full of well written matter relative to 
tours and touring. The deUgue for the United States is Col. 
Francis S. Hasseltine, 10 Tremont St., Boston, Mass. Write him, ^ 
inclosing $1.55, and he will send you the necessary application 
papers. 

If you are not acquainted with the languages of some of the 
countries through which you intend traveling, and are going to 
work your way through alone, you cannot too soon set about acquir- 
ing a sufficient command of French, German, etc., to enable you 
to ask for the common necessaries. This will be almost indis- 
pensable in France outside of Paris. In Switzerland and the Rhine 
country English is spoken at all first-class hotels and at many of 
less pretensions. As no one but Dutchmen learn Dutch, the Dutch 
are forced to speak English. You should especially practice on a 
few sentences in the different languages that will enable you to 
inquire the distance to and direction of the town that is your objec- 
tive point. Baedeker's " Travelers' Manual of Conversation" 
(90c.) will prove very useful in aiding you to make your wants 
and wishes known to those who are trying to serve you. 

If, in planning your route you desire information not obtainable 
from the guide books at your command, you have the right to 
apply to Mr. Joseph Pennell, the Foreign Marshal of the L. A. W., 
letters to whom should be addressed in care of J. S. Morgan & 
Co., 22 Old Broad St., London, England. You could hardly do 
better than to buy the books describing his cycle journeys in 
various parts of Europe, written by Elizabeth Robbins Pennell, 
and illustrated in Mr. Pennell's inimitable style. " A Trip to 
Canterbury," "Our Sentimental Journey," "Play in Provence," 
and "From Fair Florence to the Eternal City," are among the 
best. To students of art and architecture Mr. Pennell is able 
to give invaluable hints and suggestions. But he is a busy man 
and should not be troubled without good reason. 

From the time of your landing in Europe until you once more 
board the steamer for home never be without a good map of the 
locality through which you are journeying. For England I prefer 
Bacon's road maps, published by G. W. Bacon & Co., 127 Strand, 
London, England. They cover England and Wales in seven 
sheets. They cost, printed on linen — which is the best way to buy 
them — 62c. per sheet. The same house also publishes County Guide 
maps at 25c. each, on linen. Black's map of England, on the 
scale of four miles to the inch, is an excellent map. It is published 
in sections at 62c. a sheet by the Messrs. Collins, New Bridge St. , 
Blackfriars, London, S. E., England, and may be obtained at 
almost any bookseller's. Gall & Ingalls, 25 Paternoster Square, 



USEFUL HINTS AND INFORMATION. 



39 



London, and Bernard Terrace, Edinburgh, publish sectional maps 
of England, Scotland and Wales, on the scale of half an inch to 
the mile, with the main roads colored. Each sheet is 22 x 27 
inches and covers an area of 38x48 miles — an ordinary day's run. 
Mounted on cloth, and folded to small size they cost 37c. (Is. 6d.) 
per sheet. 

In Paris, at 8 Rue de la Paix, you can procure a carte Routiere 
Velocipedique de France (bicycle road map of France) that shows 
all the national roads of the country, and is very useful in plan- 
ning a route. One of the best maps of the environs of Paris is 
that published by P. Sevin, 8 Boulevard des Italians. It shows 

which roads are pave and 
which are not — a most 
important fact to know. 
Another fine series of 
French maps are for 
sale at Neal's English 
Library, 248 Rue de 
Rivoli, Paris. They are 
very strongly bound in 
cloth, are mounted on 
linen, and fold up in 
convenient shape for the 
pocket. 

In every bookstore in 
France you may buy 
splendid maps of the de- 
partment you may hap- 
pen to be in, and as they 
show all roads, grades 
etc., tbey are the best to 
use while actually en 
tour. 

For Switzerland I ad- 
vise you to get Lenzin- 
ger's Relief Map of Switzerland {Relief Reisekarte der Schweiz), 
published by Schmid, Francke & Cie, Berne. It covers the whole 
country, and is an excellent map in every respect. The cost is 
five francs (one dollar). 

A fine series of maps for cyclists traveling in Germany is the 
Deutsche Strassenprof elk arte fiir Radfahren (German road 
map for cyclists), and any map of this series can be bought at any 
good bookstore in the country. It gives highways and railways, 
shows just how the grade runs, and whether the roads are shaded 
by trees or not. Each section (37c.) is mounted on linen, and in- 
closed in a strong case. They are the best maps to use while in 
tour. The relief maps of the Rhine Valley, showing all the castles, 
towns and highways, should also be secured. 




Swiss Village Scene. 



40 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



I have taken pains to spe^ ify these maps, and where they can be 
procured; but the whole matter might have been dismissed with 
the statement that any bookstore keeps maps of the surrounding 
locality, and that the tor.ring cyclist may buy these maps as he 
goes along. But if you wish to plan out your tour before leaving, 
which I strongly advise you to do, you may wish to send for some 
of them in advance, m which case my information will be timely 
and useful. Mr. S. A. Stead, the Chief Consul of the Cyclists' 
Touring Club for Continertal Europe, will supply you with maps 
covering any route on the Continent, if you will, after joining 
the Club, write and tell him about what you desire. This is, per- 
haps, the best way, as then you will have only one person to deal 
with. 

PASSPORTS. 

Unless you are going to Russia or Turkey, you will not be 
obliged to show a passport on entering the country, and if you 
take one the chances are ten to one that you would not use it 




Wheeling Through Switzerland. 

once, and yet I would advise that you take a passport, because 
you niight need it, and if so you will be very thankful that you 
have it. The following will illustrate what I mean : 

A young man who had been a member of our party, after the 
tour was over started alone from Cologne to go to England via 
Ostend. He arrived at the steamer late at night, secured a berth 
and retired. Just before the boat started a detective and two 
policemen came on board and called him up somewhat roughly. 
Through an interpreter he was asked his name, where he had 



USEFUL HINTS AND INFORMATION. 



41 



come from, what he had been doing, and where he was going. 
Without a friend on board he was a pretty frightened young man, 
and was wondering what would be the end of it all, when the 
detective said: " You say you are a citizen of the United States. 
Have you a passport to prove it ?" Now he had a passport, which 
he had carried in an oil-skin bag all summer, without once having 
occasion to use it. He recalled its existence with interest now, 
and brought it to light immediately. It was examined carefully, 
and returned to him courteously with the following explanation: 





wmm. 















Over the Brunig Pass. 



"Pardon us for troubling you, but we are looking for a man who 
is wanted for forgery in Frankfort. You answer somewhat his 
description, but this passport shows we are mistaken. We regret 
we have caused you annoyance" — and they disappeared. " I 
wouldn't have taken one hundred dollars for that passport then," 
remarked Smith, when telling us about it on the pier at Liver- 
pool. On another occasion I was in Touraine, with a party of 
twenty American architects, who were sketching the old chateaux, 



42 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



castles, etc. One of the party strolled out of town, and seeing 
something that struck his fancy began to sketch it. While thus 
engaged a French officer rode up on horseback, and demanded 
who he was and what he was doing. His reply didn't suit the 
officer, who demanded his passport. That important document 
was at the hotel. Very well, the officer would go with him and 
see it. So Mr. S. came up to the hotel in tow of the French army, 
to the edification of the rest of the party. The passport was pro- 
duced, carefully scanned — upside dcwn — by the officer, and after 




Along the Shore of Lake Lucerne. 



expressing his relief that we were not German spies, and his 
astonishment that we should have come so far just to make pic- 
tures of old buildings, he politely retired. 

So I would get a passport. It costs little, and might prove con- 
venient. Write to the State Department at Washington for appli- 
cation papers. Go before a notary public, have the blanks filled 
out and sworn to, and then forward a dollar to the department 



USEFUL HINTS AND INFORMATION. 



13 



and you will get your passport. The notary will charge you a dol- 
lar, and thus the whole affair will only cost you a little time and 
$2.00 in money. 

HOW TO CARRY MONEY. 




Road alom 



L. 



Thun. 



There are several ways in \\hich you may carry the necessary 
amount of money for a tour abroad. The ordinary ways are cir- 
cular notes, letters of credit and American Express Company's 
" Traveler's cheques." These two last are so much superior to all 

other ways, that they are 
all we need to consider. 
A letter of credit is a 
circular letter issued by 
a banking house, certify- 
ing that you have depos- 
ited with them a stated 
amount of money, and 
that they will honor any 
drafts you may make 
upon them until that 
amount is exhausted. The 
bankers who issue the let- 
ter of credit have corre- 
spondents in all the prin- 
cipal cities of Europe, 
any one of whom will let you have the amount of money you 
require in the coin of the country; in return for this you give 
him a draft on the firm issuing the letter of credit for the 
amount drawn. All letters of credit are reckoned in English 
pounds, no letter being issued for less than one hundred pounds 
($500). Each time you draw on your letter of credit the amount 
drawn is written on the back. When you return home, if you have 
not drawn out the full amount, the banker who issued the letter 
will take it and pay you the unused balance. 

The " Traveler's Cheques" are little books sold by the Ameri- 
can Express Company, each leaf of which is detachable and rep- 
resents the sum of $5, $10, or $20, as the case may be, and on this 
leaf it tells you just what amount of money you can receive for it 
in the coin of the various countries. Thus, for a $5 cheque, or 
leaf you would receive in England, say twenty shillings, in France 
twenty-five francs, in Germany twenty marks, in Holland twelve 
and one-half guelden, etc. These are not the exact amounts, but 
will serve as an illustration. The advantage of the letter of credit 
is that it takes up less room, and in case you lose it you are much 
more likely to get it back. The banking house that issues it will, 
if you desire, receive all mail sent you in their care, and will for- 
ward it to your shifting address, if you will keep them informed of 
your whereabouts. 



Specimen Letter of Credit 
FRONT 



Circular Letter of Credit 

jvoJM^iini 

A0ORESSE0 TO THE CORRESPONDENTS 



KNAUTH,JVaCHOD & KtJHNE. 

NEW YORK,. ^/C^-^" ^- / ' f/7 



'j-rt-ZA/v 



Jas.&-JL> &&^€£^- 

/At; sefA&trP- ''/■en* WY-AAS/Ae<7sM:////'l',i&jA *j<ss-A A/??yA> <7J -ACjZs i?i<7i/< vct/tv/tr 
4//* Ar/ZA^sty^yreyaA^^wtntrtA^'A^ {*A^u_ C&4~€*^d~<2^t^7(_^ 

pan's Bank, Ximfteo, Xonfcon, ^Wl^/^^/^w^ 

stfa^tarV'Os/y'dni:'/ ^r/^A^Aff^/A) ^AcnAA^rft^^A^i^^AA yeA/^yA/rM^-i-yr-n^ 

,er/szeA//Si&e'rsjA'?t£>w/'r Ar'/i*, //A&»st &A yAny/i^c/Ae ^e-A/ttAAA y/^u^Auf.'-AAj^ 

<_yAr, ,0*r/'te*te'/i>'/',erf, ve?s.A s/i0j& //■r/sttjA/As/s&rea&ls.ues/A)'?*- Anw.AarA> 
#A' / wAi'/A?>/A?i; ^n^ y A/S//AstJ/**'tL/*'***f74' J^s'^C£^e^sJftvMer.A^i^-snAt:£>K< 
Atf/^^Ar/r/sfAlS^yJ'A^aAA/A'SaAacA'.cAA^ 

Aas,*cAs:a^y&<t^A"nyba^^AA* 



Specimen Letter of Credit 
REVERSE 

(When used, showing payments made.) 



BANKERS WILL PLEASE INSCRIBE PAYMENTS IN THEIR ORDER ON THESE PAGES 



DATE WHEN 
PAID 



"r? 



BY WHOM PAID 



KMOTLMnOD&XtiM, 



J 



H" 



M\ 



(c/^nto-n ttonrt <^-< ^^^^v 



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J^<1_ 



NAME OF TOWN 



im you. 



Parr's Bank, Li: 

fcSN 



MITED, 

rpoN. 



- -Z&Kj2--?£<^>°*t>6zjL£tA%> ~c ^/co 



Titw-inciat 



ian. 



Da Twentache Bankveree lieing. 



Z^jMttywa %emmeiaty 



h /s ?z 



Banque Federals 



'fiuy &f&DBA Nachod ^^gf Q< 



frV#? 



""** DEg^g^ J^*^ 



AMOUNT PAID EXPRESSED IN 
WORDS 



AMOUNT 
INF/CURES 



(U % ^£ t ^c6L^j£/&//* 



<£>^2 



■<i^ ^^V-t^y4^»^t f 2-0 — 



^-V-wt*~eCi7 



&. 



5^^v^-1Uy(^4, 



<fc c #>auA,'4£c. 




, SWAN & BARRETT 
S ^l bankers PORT t=AND-^ £.^r </ r^ 




^2_JV 



/J~<7 



^S?*-~ 



Jf7$-^ 



a 



TWidJ 



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'■; SZ^jtZL*^ Jp ?£L 



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^£ 



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JgV**:*-. 



c25~- 



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{ Q OQ -— 



4G 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



The advantages of the "Traveler's Cheques " are that you can 
buy as many or as few leaves or cheques as you desire, that they 
are received as cash at many hotels along the ordinary routes of 
travel, a provision that often proves convenient. The cost of the 
letter of credit is one per cent, of the face amount ; of the trav- 
eler's cheques, one-half of one per cent. As a matter of fact, how- 
ever, these cheques probably cost just as much as the letter of 
credit, as with the latter you are allowed the advantage of the 
various fluctuations of exchange, whereas the express company 




Hotel de Balances, Lucerne. 

takes this item to its own benefit, and appears to give to the cus- 
tomer the lowest rate in the varying scale. For these reasons the 
difference in first cost need not be taken into account. 

If I were going to take more than $500, I should take a letter of 
credit, with a few of the cheques for emergencies. If I did not 
wish to take $500, the cheques are better than circular notes, British 



USEFUL HINTS AND INFORMATION. 



4? 



gold, or any other form of money. I would say here that you 
will find it a very comfortable feeling to have more money at your 
command than you will in all probability need, and sometimes you 
might even need a part of this surplus. If you find you are going 
to some region where your banker, or the express company, has 
no correspondent, be sure and take enough current money to carry 
you through, and place no dependence in the assurance of your 
banker that his letter of credit will be honored by any bank, no 
matter whether he is a duly accredited correspondent or not. 




Town on the Border of the Black Forest. 

Great Britain and Ireland are the only places where this holds 
true. Bankers on the Continent will positively and uniformly 
decline to honor these letters, although politely assuring you that 
they haven't a doubt but that your letter is genuine, and that 
your bankers are as "good as gold." So don't get caught, as I 
have been, several times, to my great annoyance and incon- 
venience. 

PERSONAL OUTFIT. 

Having decided on your route, made a deposit for your steamer 
ticket (all steamer companies require a deposit of part of the 



48 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



passage money as a guarantee of good faith before they will 
reserve a berth for you) and perfected your money arrange- 
ments, you are at liberty to turn your attention to your personal 
outfit. What we have to say in this connection is the result of 
experience and observation. If the trip is to be a hurried one, 
say six weeks, and the object sightseeing, pure and simple, I 
should provide myself with the following: A new light weight 
traveling suit, a heavy winter suit, a light weight overcoat made 
of " Rigby," or similar cloth that sheds water like a rubber mackin- 
tosh, a new bicycle suit, two suits of all-wool summer underwear, 
one suit of heavy winter underwear, two taffeta cycling shirts, 
(unless you like something else better) toilet articles and a travel- 
ing rug for the steamer. Have a " steamer trunk," a small hand 
bag, and a shawl strap for the rug. 




Freiburg. 



You will come on board in your summer suit, but the first 
morning out put on your thick flannels and winter suit, and wear 
them during the remainder of the voyage. It is almost invariably 
cold on the Atlantic, even in summer, but dressed as suggested 
you should be sufficiently warm, except in stormy weather, at 
which time your overcoat is just what you will need. You can 



USEFUL HINTS AND INFORMATION. 49 

secure a steamer chair of the man in charge of the deck, who will 
put your name on it for the voyage. The usual charge is $1.00. 
If you are to return by the same line as that on which you go over 
leave your steamer rug and heavy suit in charge of the company, 
reminding them a day or two before embarking for the return 
trip, to have them in your stateroom ready for your use. It will 
be seen at once that you could still further reduce your baggage 
by omitting the winter suit — but I have found it the most com- 
fortable thing for the voyage. 

You will naturally spend several days, or possibly weeks, in 
London and Paris, and while in these cities, I should not attempt 
to use the wheel . It is better to do the sights in both these places 
after the manner of an ordinary tourist. 

If you intend patronizing the opera and the drama in either 
London or Paris, you had better add a dress suit, or other even- 
ing suit to your outfit. At the opera in London a dress suit is 




Fortress of Ehrenbreitstein and Bridge at Coblenz. 

obligatory ; in Paris you could go in a blouse if you wish, but the 
French Opera will bring you in touch with elegantly dressed 
people in the finest opera house in the world, and so I think you 
will enjoy it better if you can feel the satisfaction of being suit- 
ably attired. , , 

Right here it may be proper to say that people are judged more 
bv their dress in Europe than in this country, and it is well for 
the tourist to bear this in mind. The European cyclist of the 
better class pays rather more attention to his personal appearance 
than do cylists of the same class in America, and our European 
brother generally presents a better appearance on the road. He 
rarely rides without his coat, even on the hottest day; and 
though 1 believe in comfort, and do not follow the example of the 
foreign cyclist in this, I find it pleasanter to put on my coat just 



50 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



before entering the city or town where I expect to stop at a hotel. 
If you adopt the same rule you will find that the landlord is apt 
to receive you with a greater show of respect than if you had 
arrived half dressed and dusty and having the appeararce of a 
field-laborer. As you are not likely to remain with him long 
enough to change his first impression, it is better to have that 
impression a good one. 

On several occasions I have seen the attendant in oneor another 
of the art galleries and churches severely reprimand Americans 
for entering with their coats over their arms, and make them put 
them on — and, I am sorry to say — take their hats off. I have 
also heard the landlord of a European hotel request an American 
cyclist to put his coat on at the dinner table, and that, too, in a 





Down the Rhine. 

manner that clearly indicated that the host considered it an insult 
to his other guests to have a tourist at the hotel table in his shirt 
sleeves. These are exceptional, though actual, cases and are only 
mentioned to give the reader an idea of how the matter of dress 
is regarded in Europe. 

If after leaving Paris your trip includes only Switzerland, Ger- 
many and Holland, you should send your trunk directly to the 
port from which you expect to sail, as the remainder of your trip 
will be over well beaten tourist ground, where it is expected you 
will be dressed in outing costume, and no style of dress causes 
comment if it is good of its kind. 



USEFUL HINTS AND INFORMATION. 



51 



If you have previously wheeled through Great Britain and 
Ireland you will be apt to find by the time you reach Paris that 
your cycling suit is somewhat the worse for wear. My plan is to 
have two suits. One I wear as far as the first city I arrive at in 
Switzerland, where I change for a new suit. At Paris I send this 
new suit on to Berne or Geneva as the case may be, and when I 
arrive there send the old suit to my port of departure. Through 
Switzerland and down the Rhine you will meet the army of sum- 
mer tourists, and your new suit will not seem amiss when mingling 



'•1 / . - , 




j0 


ill 


Z&& .'" ' :: '■ 


rc? 



Uhlans at Bonn. 

with them at the concert gardens, or meeting them in the histori- 
cal places that it is everyone's duty to visit. 

I have no idea that this " pointer" will be heeded by all of my 
readers who travel abroad, but 1 feel sure some will act upon it, 
and be glad they did so. 

If you land in Liverpool and intend wheeling to London, go 
directly to the hotel you have selected; pack your trunk, putting 
in it your summer suit and all other articles that you will not need 
until you reach London, and forward it to your London address. 
Notify the hotel there that you have done so. Pitt & Scott con- 
duct an express business similar to the American Express Co., 
and it is best to send it in their care. Ask the porter at your hotel 
where their local office is, and notify the manager or agent to 
come for your trunk. After visiting your banker you are ready 
for the road. (If possible have a small amount of English money 



$'-! 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



about you before landing. Your American banker or purser on 
the ship will probably be able to accommodate you in this matter.) 
In addition to the suit you have on you should start on your 
journey awheel with the following articles : One cycling shirt, one 
pair of stockings, one suit of under flannels, handkerchiefs and toilet 
articles. These should be taken in a waterproof roll on the front 
of your wheel. There are carriers made for the rear of the bicycle, 
and cases that fit in the frame, but a bundle on the rear might 
drop off or be left without your missing it, and a frame case 
almost invariably rattles, and if the wind is strong on the quarter 
its force will act against the case and add to your work perceptibly. 
The best luggage carrier is made of strong wire and carries the 
bundle just below and in front of the head. The straps are so 




Down the Rhine. 



arranged that your coat can be carried on top of your bundle with- 
out disturbing it, which arrangement you will soon come to appre- 
ciate. As I have mentioned before it rains easily in Great Britain, 
and though you probably would not start out in a rain-storm, you 
are very liable to be caught in a shower, and in such case you 
will find a cyclist's waterproof cape (sold in all English cycling 



USEFUL HINTS AND INFORMATION. 



53 



outfitter's stores) a very valuable garment, and I advise that you 
r rovide yourself with one. If you should be fortunate enough not 
to need it, so much the better; if the storm over takes you on the 
route between towns, you will be very glad you have it. 

You will of course ride your favorite wheel, and you may feel 
fully competent to say just how it shall be fitted up; but long 
experience entitles me to hold a very pronounced opinion on this 
subject and for the benefit of the novice it may not be amiss for 
me to express it here. To begin with it should be borne in mind 




A German Street. 

that single tube tires are very little used in Europe, and it would 
be almost impossible to replace one in case an accident should 
make it necessary. Some of the large cities contain agencies for 
American wheels and at these places you might find a single tube, 
but not elsewhere. 

You must expect punctures (for the hob nails of the peasantry 
are scattered over the highways, always with the " business end" 
up), and be prepared to repair them. If you are successful in this 
well and good, if not you may be obliged,— as I have known 
others to be — to have steel rims and a double tube tire put on at 
a big expense, and considerable trouble. Anyone can repair a 



.54 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



double tube tire quickly and permanently if it is only an ordinary 
puncture, and should it be rendered utterly useless, you can buy 
a double tube tire in any European town of respectable size. 
Many cyclists have made the European tour with single tube tires, 
and had no trouble whatever; others have been troubled and 
delayed from the time they started until they finished their trip. 
To sum it up it's a little safer to use double tube tires on a 
European tour. 

Be sure and have a good brake, if you wish to fully enjoy the 
trip. France, Switzerland and Germany abound in long grades, 
many of them miles in length, and the only way to enjoy them 
comfortably and with safety is to have a reliable brake. It would 
be better still if you were provided with two brakes, an ordinary 




Dutch Architecture — Haarlem. 



brake on the front wheel and a pneumatic brake on the rear, 
Thus equipped you need fear no mountain pass that you are likely 
to traverse. 

If you intend to ride after dark you must have a bicycle lamp, 
and see that it is lighted at the proper time or you are likely to be 
called in by the police and fined. This rule is strictly enforced. 



USEFUL HINTS AND INFORMATION. 



55 



I should plan never to ride after dark, and so dispose of this 
matter. 

You must also have a bell and give due warning of your 
approach to all people walking in the road, both in country and 
city. 

Bear in mind that in Great Britain and Ireland the rule of the 
road on meeting another vehicle is to turn to the left. This will 
come hard at first, but should be remembered, because a mistake 
at any time might cause a serious accident. 

In crating your wheel for the voyage, it will pay — provided 
you return from the same port at which you land — to have a 
crate made in which screws take the place of nails, as then it can 
be used for the return voyage. It is much more difficult and 
expensive to have a bicycle properly crated in Europe than it is in 
America. Many cycle factories in England never send their 
wheels to their agents in wooden crates, but bind them with 
straw and ship them in that manner. 




IV. 
WHERE AND HOW TO GO. 

COMPANIONSHIP — HOW TO ARRANGE — AVOID DISSENSIONS — ADVICE TO 
THE LADIES— A LADY'S OPINION — SUGGESTED TOURS — DAY'S RUN 
SHOULD BE MODERATE — A DELIGHTFUL IRISH ROUTE: SEVEN 
DAYS BETWEEN CORK, KENMARE, DERRYNANE, KILLARNEY AND 
DUBLIN; A FIVE-DAY TRIP FROM LONDONDERRY TO BELFAST (THE 
ANTRIM COAST ROUTE)— THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY — LIVERPOOL TO 
LONDON VIA CHESTER, BIRMINGHAM, KENILWORTH, WARWICK, 
STRATFORD-ON-AVON, BLENHEIM, OXFORD, HENLEY AND WINDSOR 
— HINTS EN ROUTE — GETTING INTO LONDON — WHERE TO PUT UP 
— LONDON TO NEW HAVEN — DIEPPE TO PARIS -BOULOGNE TO 
PARIS — INTERESTING POINTS ON THE ROUTE— PARIS TO GENEVA — 
GENEVA TO THE FALLS OF THE RHINE — A TEN-DAY TRIP THROUGH 
WONDERLAND — SWITZERLAND TO THE NORTH SEA — A TOUR 
THROUGH HOLLAND — QUAINT VILLAGES AND LUXURIANT GARDENS 
— CONCLUSION. 

The chances are a hundred to one that you are not going to 
Europe alone — very few people could find enjoyment in making a 
long tour without companionship, especially if the languages and 
customs of the countries to be visited are new and strange to them 
and it will be better if at least one of the party has had previous 
experience and knows what to do in emergencies But be sure in 
any case to have the route and style of travel thoroughly under- 
stood before starting, or have it agreed that one person shall be 
the guiding mind, and that others shall follow. Otherwise dis- 
sensions will arise that will mar the pleasure of the tour ; and very 
likely cause a separation. It is well if you and your friends' 
tastes are similar as regards what is worth seeing and doing, and 
bad if they are not. If your party is large you are sure to find 
those whose ideas as to pace on the road and enjoyment in the 
tour are like your own, and their companionship will greatly 
increase the enjoyment of the trip. 

If I were a lad)'-, I should prefer to be in a party which included 
at least one gentleman, not that his companionship is necessary 
for social enjoyment, but because his presence would be very 
likely to save you from being misunderstood, and perhaps 
annoyed. I am well aware that ladies have cycled through 
Europe unattended by gentlemen, and have returned safely and 
reported a delightful time ; but I have also traveled with ladies, 
and have met ladies traveling by themselves, and my advice is as 
I have stated. Let me give one or two illustrations: 



WHERE AND HOW TO GO. 



57 



While standing in the office of the largest hotel in Chester in 
the summer of '96, two ladies entered who were, I feel very sure, 
from their conversation, New England school teachers. They 
were attired in American cycling costume, which was just a trifle 
shorter in the skirt than then — and now— in vogue with English lady 
riders. Their wheels, well laden with baggage, stood at the door. 
They inquired of the lady clerk the price ot a room. "Our rooms 
are all taken," said the clerk, "but you will find accommodation 
just below." The ladies looked disappointed and went out. I 
felt sure the rooms were not all taken, and immediately asked 
the clerk why she had refused them. "Oh! that sort of people 
had best go to some other place," she replied, in a significant tone. 



~^BI 


m 


u ! 1 1 1 \MJ l 


m 


• : ,-:' r '.L : 


""** . '" r v : -"' ' "■• 1 ij 




• ; ,".;^#& / ' 1 ' 




*7fll 


SH kk 



Canal and Streets of Utrecht— Showing Hotel 
Van Antwerpen. 



It was not because they were cyclists, for a number were stopping 
at the hotel— but because they were traveling in skirts two inches 
shorter than those worn by ladies in England, and were traveling 
alone. 

In the spring of '97 I was cycling with several ladies and gentle- 
men in England, and arrived one afternoon in the city of Bir- 
mingham. Three of the ladies strolled away from the party for 



58 



CYCLING IN EUROPE. 



a short time, and amused themselves by gazing into the shop win- 
dows. When I went to find them they were surrounded by a 
crowd of street loafers, who saw that they were not English, and 
therefore fit objects to be stared at. It required a policeman to 
send them about their business. And these ladies were cultured 
and refined, with nothing about them to attract attention, save 
that they were foreigners. 

For a people that has spread itself so widely over the world the 
English include a certain class who are astonishingly, insular in 
their ideas, and regard everything as wrong and queer that differs 
even ever so slightly from that to which they are accustomed. 
Even if you are careful to adopt the English costume, you would 
still be picked out as not of their kind— and so I shouldn't attempt 
to copy them even in the matter of dress, for, as a rule, the Amer- 
ican lady cyclist is far more neatly dressed than her English 
sister. 

In France and Germany, though ladies traveling alone would 
not be refused accommodation at any hotel (the Chester case was 
exceptional, even in England), they would be the subject of many 




A Brick Road in Holland. 



sly inuendoes, and in Holland openly hooted at — for Dutch chil- 
dren are by all odds the most ill-mannered in Europe. In Switz- 
erland anyone can travel as he or she pleases without comment. 

I have no idea that these remarks will prevent American ladies 
from cycling unattended— and I also think the time will come when 
what I have stated will not hold true ; but these conditions exist 
at the present time, and the ladies who, in spite of them, brave 



WHERE AND HOW TO GO. 

who have been riding in the cars, ^stwdof on a tncyu 

SUGGESTED TOURS. 

in planning a tour, such an *ft ^ 0^"^ 
themselves that one is g^ § yQU 

mileage. Bear in mmdthaUn addiUon t y > tQ the t 

will do much tramping *™^ and museums, 

of lofty steeples and wande ^c* ^yn g^^ enough for the 
From thirty five to fifty m f n f * aa y hall DreS ent for your consid- 
average rider. In the routes ^at I shall prese: n y Q{ten 

eration, the daily distance will rarely ejcwa n y & 

less. Sleeping places arc J^dica e by a ' n « th P ey are Lsily 
The distances of each day % run js not giv , j distances 

accomplished by any rider of average ^ ^ x he c T c . 

can be ascertained, in most cases, ^ r efe^nce ^^ sug _ 

guide books. It is assumed you will^atron ^ ^ ned> 

^^^Tea^^he tourist is advised to go there m 



any case. 



60 CYCLING IN EUROPE. 

A DELIGHTFUL IRISH ROUTE. 

First day, Cork, Bandon*; second day, Bantryf, Glengariff* 
(Eccles Hotel) ; third day, Parknasillaf, Waterville*; fourth day, 
Caherciveenf (train to Kells), Glencar*; fifth day, Kenmaref, 
Killarney*; sixth day, the tour of the lakes; seventh day, train 
direct to Dublin. 

Remarks : — This is the most picturesque region in Ireland. At 
Derrynane is shown the home of Daniel O'Connell, the great 
Irish patriot. From Glencar to Kenmare, the route is through the 
romantic pass of Ballaghbeama. If you can spare the time when 
training from Killarney to Dublin, stop off at Gould's Cross and 
visit the Rock of Cashel, the finest ruin in the United Kingdom. 
Devote two days to Dublin, then go direct to Chester via 
Kingston and Holyhead. I have advised train from Caherciveen 
to Kells because it is mostly up-hill. It is advised that you leave 
Cork after the mid-day meal, making a short stop at Blarney 
Castle. 

FROM LONDONDERRY TO BELFAST. 

THE ANTRIM COAST ROUTE. 

First day, Londonderry*, Giant's Causeway*; second day, 
Glenarmf, Belfast*; third day, Belfast; fourth day, take steamer 
to Peel*, Isle of Man ; fifth day, wheel to Douglas* in forenoon ; 
sixth day, steamer to Whitehaven or Liverpool. 

Remarks: — You may be somewhat disappointed in the Cause- 
way, as its remarkable features do not at once appear ; but a close 
examination and a little thought will convince you that it is one 
of the world's wonders. Don't make the ride to Belfast until you 
have a pleasant day. The beauties of the Antrim road are quite 
lost in bad weather. If, instead of visiting Belfast and the Isle of 
Man, you wish to go to Scotland, you had better take steamer at 
Lame for Stranraer, which is the shortest ferry between the two 
countries. From Stranraer you may go north to Glasgow, or 
south through the Lake Regions. 

LIVERPOOL TO LONDON. 

First day, Liverpool*; second day, Chester* ; third day, Chester; 
fourth day, Nantwichf, Stafford*; fifth day. Lichfieldf, Birming- 
ham*; sixth day, Kenilworthf, Warwick* (Woolpack Hotel); 
seventh day, Stratford-on-Avon* (Golden Lion Hotel); eighth 
day, Long Comptonf, Oxford*; ninth day, Oxford; tenth day, 
Henleyf, Windsor* (White Hart Hotel); eleventh day, Hampton 
Courtf, London.* 

Remarks: — If you leave Liverpool during the forenoon, you 
can easily reach Chester by noon, as it is only about thirteen 
miles. Spend the afternoon walking the walls and rows, and 



Where and how to go. 61 

doing the other sights of the city as indicated in the guide books. 
The next day should be devoted to visiting Eaton Hall, the 
magnificent seat of the Duke of Westminster, and Hawarden 
Castle, residence of the late Hon. Wm. E. Gladstone. From Chester 
to Stafford is forty-five miles, and if that is beyond your powers 
for one day, go only as far as Crewe (stopping en route to visit 
Beeston Castle), or take train for part of the way. It is not a 
specially interesting country, so I advise you not to put out too 
much time on it. At Lichfield you will see the smallest cathedral 
in England, but it has been most carefully and perfectly restored, 
and is unique in that particular. Leave Birmingham sufficiently 
early in the morning to enable you to "do" Kenil worth before 
lunch, which you may secure there, or pass on to Warwick. I 
advise that you lunch at Kenilworth and then ride to Warwick via 
Leamington, which is an attractive place to pass through. As you 
wheel over the bridge on entering Warwick by this route, you get 
a most charming view of the castle, which you should visit before 
going to the hotel, as the gates close at 4 p. m. After visiting the 
castle, leave your wheel at the Woolpack and visit the quaint 
Leycester Hospital, at the end of High Street, as it is well worth 
a visit. The next morning ride to Stratford via Charlecote 
House and if it is open for visitors (they can inform you on that 
point at the Woolpack) be sure and visit it. At Stratford you will 
have the afternoon to visit Shakespeare's birthplace, the church, 
and the new theatre. On your ride to Oxford take lunch at a 
little inn in Long Compton, a quaint place where you will be well 
served. Lunch as early as possible in order that you may have 
plenty of time to visit " Blenheim," the magnificent palace and 
estate of the Duke of Marlborough. Spend the next day doing 
Oxford and hire a guide, for that is by far the best way. They 
will furnish you one at the hotel, and for a very reasonable sum 
he will take you through the various college grounds ; the Bod- 
leian Library, and many places you would miss, should you try 
to find your way about by yourself. It is a very pleasant ride from 
Oxford to Henley, and you should reach Windsor in season to 
visit the castle. If not, do so the next morning. I have recom- 
mended the White Hart Hotel because it is close to the castle, 
and a most excellent house, though somewhat expensive. The 
next day stop at Hampton Court, and go through Cardinal Wols- 
ley's grand old palace. There are numerous restaurants and 
hotels here all quite ready to serve you, and every one of which 
will cheat you if possible. Be particular to settle the question of 
price before ordering. I advise that you do not attempt to ride 
your wheel into London, but be sure to wheel through Bushy 
Park where is one of the finest drives in England, bordered by 
magnificent chestnut trees. After riding through the park you 
had better take the train at Teddington station for London, unless 
you are skilled in threading your way among the traffic of a great 
city. Secure quarters somewhere in the Bloomsbury district, near 



'j , -. i CYCLING IN EUROPE. 

the British Museum. Now try and make every moment tell to 
the best advantage, for even then you cannot begin to see half 
what this great city has to offer. First procure a picture map of 
London (George Philip & Son, 32 Fleet Street, price 62 cents) and 
by its aid plan out your daily programme, so that the places to be 
visited will come in order, thus saving much unnecessary traveling. 
Of course you will make a point of visiting St. Paul's Cathedral, 
The National Gallery, Tussaud's Wax Works, Kensington Art 
Museum, The Imperial Institute, The Tower, Westminster Abbey, 
House of Parliament; British Museum, Zoological Gardens, etc. 
Take an omnibus on Oxford Street, going east, that says " Bank" 
on it, climb on top and ride down into the " City " ; en route you 
will pass over the famous Holborn Viaduct, and pass in succession 
old Newgate Prison, the General Post Offices, the Mansion House 
(the home of the Lord Mayor), and the Bank of England. Get a 
seat near the driver, tip him a sixpence and he will point them all 
out to you, and give you a lot of other information besides. Oxford, 
Regent and Bond streets contain the finest shops (there are no 
" stores" in England). As you are an American you will patronize 
the Alhambra and Empire among other theatres in the evening; 
but if there is a concert going on at the Imperial Institute don't 
miss it. But this is not a guide book of London. 

FROM LONDON TO NEWHAVEN. 

Remarks: — If from London you intend to wheel to Newhaven 
and then take the cross-channel steamer to Dieppe, let me sug- 
gest that you leave London after lunch by train for Epsom, 
wheel from there to Reigate, via Dorking, just beyond which is 
" Deepdene," the lovely country seat of Lord Clinton, the grounds 
of which are always open to the public. I would make a point to 
take this in as I went along. This will be a delightful half-day 
run. Spend the night at Reigate at the White Hart hotel. The 
following forenoon wheel to Brighton and dine there. The 
steamer service from Newhaven is tidal and your programme 
will depend somewhat on the time of starting, but if the steamer 
leaves Newhaven in the evening devote part of the afternoon to 
Brighton and then ride to New Haven via Lewes, rather than by 
the coast. If you wish to do the distance in a day from London 
to Newhaven take train to Croydon, dine at Reigate, and in the 
afternoon wheel either to Brighton or Lewes (Star Hotel). It is 
to be hoped that you will enjoy your passage across the channel. 

FROM DIEPPE TO PARIS. 

Dieppe*, first day, Totesf (Hotel d'Yvetot), Rouen*; second 
day, Rouen; third day, Gaillonf, Vernon*; fourth day, Mantesf, 
St. Germain* (Hotel Prince de Galles), fifth day, Versailles!, 
Paris*. 



WHERE AND HOW TO GO. 83 

Remarks: — Your C. T. C. credentials will take your wheel through 
the " douane " (customs). Don't try to hurry the operation, take it 
quietly and you will finally get through all right. Spend the rest 
of the day in Dieppe. The fisherwomen are quite a feature here. 
Visit the Casino in the evening and see the gambling if you wish. 
The next day you will find a grand road to Rouen. Rouen is the 
most interesting city in northern France outside of Paris, and you 
can put in a day here to excellent advantage. Climb the high 
tower in the cathedral, and get a grand view of the city ; hire a 
cab and drive out to the new pilgrimage church of Bon-Secours, 
and do the town as thoroughly as possible. Your " Baedeker" 
will tell you what is to be seen. The next day your way will 
parallel the Seine for many miles. At. St. Germain, you will 
find a delightful old hostelry with good wine, and a young lady 
who speaks English. Be sure and visit the terrace at the end of 
the forest for the sake of the beautiful view of the Seine valley, 
and a distant glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. From St. Germain 
you could go straight into Paris, but as you must visit Versailles 
sooner or later, you had better do it now. The road is rather 
crooked from St. Germain to Versailles, but there is no reason 
why you should not follow it with a little care. Devote the after- 
noon to the Palace and Forest, and then wheel into Paris (15 
minutes) via the Bois de Boulogne. If you leave Versailles as 
early as 5 p. m. I advise that you take dinner at one of the 
numerous restaurants at St. Cloud, after which cross the bridge, 
turn to the left and wheel the entire length of the Bois to the 
Port Maillot which is at the foot of the Rue de Grande Armee. 
This rue is almost entirely given up to cycle stores. Right in 
front of you is the grand Arc de Triumphe, in the Place de 
l'Etoile. Ride up to the Arc, and then if this is your first visit to 
the city signal a cabby, and let him take you and your wheel to 
your hotel, apartment, or pension as you may have elected. 

FROM BOULOGNE TO PARIS. 

Boulogne*, first day, train to Amiens*; second day, Peronne*; 
third day, St. Quentin*; fourth day, La Feref, Coucy*; fifth 
day, Noyon*; sixth day, Compiegne*; seventh day, Pierrefondsf, 
Crepy en Valois*; eighth day, Senlisf, Chantilly*; ninth day, 
Beaumontf, Pontoise*; tenth day, St. Germainf; Paris* 

Remarks:— This is a delightful route for one landing in 
France, at Boulogne, and desiring to visit the historic monuments 
easily within his reach before arriving at Paris. Boulogne itself 
is a delightful little city combining the features of a modern 
seaside resort, and a walled town of the middle ages. I advise 
taking the train to Amiens as the intervening country is uninter- 
esting. At Amiens, is one of the most imposing Gothic 
churches in Europe, erected during the thirteenth century. The 
ride from Amiens to St. Quentin is through the great wheat fields of 



64 CYCLING IN EUROPE. 

Picardy, and presents a charming aspect of rural prosperity. At 
Coucy may be seen the grand ruins of one of the most striking 
monuments of the feudal ages in Europe. Noyon is famous as 
the birth-place of John Calvin, the reformer. Here Charlemagne 
was crowned in 1771 as monarch of the Franks. At Compiegne 
is one of the grand palaces of the French monarchs, with 
delightful grounds. It was here that Joan of Arc was taken 
prisoner by the Burgundians in 1430. At Pierrefonds is the 
magnificent feudal castle restored by the order of Napoleon III. 
at the cost of $1,000,000. Chantilly is famous as the former seat 
of the Conde family. Their grand estate descended to the late 
Due d'Aumale, who in his will left it to the Institute de France, 
and it is now open to the public. Chantilly is also famous for its 
race-meetings which are held in May, September and October. 
Great numbers of race horses are kept here all the year round. 
From Pontoise to St. Germain, your way is through the grand 
forest of St. Germain. 

PARIS TO GENEVA. 

Paris*, first day, Melunf , Fontainbleau*; second day, Fontain- 
bleau-f, Sens*; third day, Joignyf, Auxerre*; fourth day, Vermer- 
tonf, Avallon*; fifth day, Saulieuf, Autun*; sixth day, Conchesf, 
Chalon*; seventh day, Louhansf; Lons-le-Saunier*; eighth day, 
Morezf ; Geneva*. 

Remarks : — The ride from Paris to Melun begins with worrying 
work through the traffic, and is not particularly interesting at any 
point. It is much pleasanter to take the train. The forenoon of 
the second day should be devoted to the palace and grounds of 
Fontainbleau. On your way from Avallon to Saulieu visit the 
castle of Chastellux, a fine place, open to visitors Autun is one 
of the great cathedral towns of France. From Lons-le-Saunier 
to Geneva is over and through the Jura Mountains, with many 
long climbs and grand views. If instead of pushing through to 
Geneva from Morez in the afternoon you remained over night at 
Morez, it would be better. From the Col de la Faucille is one of 
the grandest views imaginable. Here the road begins its zigzags 
down the mountain wall, and a good brake is absolutely necessary. 
To one who has wheeled from the coast to Paris, the country 
between that city and Geneva presents little that is novel save in 
the Jura region, and should it be desired to economize time it is 
best to train direct from Fontainbleau to Lons-le-Saunier, thus 
saving several L days that could be profitably devoted to Switzer- 
land, Germany or Holland. 

FROM GENEVA TO THE FALLS OF THE RHINE. 

Geneva*, first day take steamer from Geneva to Montreaux, 
from there wheel to Aigle*, visiting en route the Castle of 



WHERE AND HOW TO GO. 65 

Chillon ; second day, ten mile walk (four hours) to top of pass 
(Comballaz), where lunch can be had at the hotel; afternoon to 
Gesseney*; third clay, Boltigan+, Thun*; fourth day Interlaken*; 
fifth day, make the trip to Miirren; sixth day, Kurhans at top of 
Briinig Passf, Lucerne*; seventh day, Lucerne*; eighth day, 
steamer to Weggis, wheel to Vitznau and make the excursion up 
the Rigif, in the afternoon wheel to Brunnen* and make the 
excursion through the Axenstrasse and to Tell's Chapel; ninth 
day, Zugf, Zurich* (Hotel Bellevue); tenth day, Falls of the 
Rhine*. 

Remarks: — Although the walk up the Simmenthal Valley from 
Aigle is somewhat fatiguing, this is the best route to Thun. 
Start at 7 a. m. in order to avoid the heat of the sun, which some- 
times beats down with great fierceness. One can make innumer- 
able trips from Interlaken, but if you can spare but one day the 
trip to Miirren is about the finest. The new railroad up the 
Scheinige Platte is also a grand excursion and presents some of 
the finest points of view in the Bernese Oberland. Should the 
day be fine the trip over the Briinig is most enjoyable; but if 
cloudy and you cannot wait for a clear day you had better take the 
train, as you can see little of the grand scenery along the road 
route unless the weather is clear. Instead of wheeling the entire 
distance to Lucerne you can take steamer at Alpnach, and do the 
last ten miles on the lake. At Lucerne you will seeThorwaldsen's 
Lion, saunter on the old bridge with its old paintings, take the 
cable train up to the Giitsch for the view (and the beer) and listen 
to the band in the evening. Don't miss the Rigi if it is clear 
weather, but if not pleasant your trip up this famous height will 
be disappointing. It is a beautiful ride along the shore of lake 
Lucerne to Brunnen, and so on through the Axenstrasse. At the 
Falls of the Rhine be sure and make the trip to the rock in the 
middle of the Falls ; there is no danger. 

FROM SWITZERLAND TO THE SEA. 

TOUR OF THE RHINE VALLEY. 

Falls of the Rhine: First day, Titiseef, Freiburg*; second day, 
Kippenheimf, Strassburg* (Hotel Ville de Paris); third day, 
Strassburg*; fourth day, Baden Baden*; fifth day, forenoon in 
Baden Baden, afternoon to Carlsruhe*; sixth day, Heidelberg*; 
seventh day, Schonbergf, Darmstadt*; eighth day, Frankfort*; 
ninth day, Wiesbaden*; tenth day, Rudesheimf, St. Goar*; 
eleventh day, Capelienf, Coblenz*; twelfth day, Remagenf, 
Bonn*; thirteenth day, Cologne*; fourteenth day, Diisseldorf*; 
fifteenth day, Duisburgf, Wesel*; sixteenth day, Emmerichf, 
Arnheim*; seventeenth day, Grebbef, Utrecht* (Hotel van 
Antwerpen); eighteenth day, Goudaf, Rotterdam*. 



66 CYCLING IN EUROPE. 

Remarks: — This is one of many routes that may be taken from 
the borders of Switzerland to the shores of the North Sea, but it 
is one of the most direct, and includes perhaps more places of 
interest than any other. Make an early start from the Falls of 
the Rhine, and prepare for an uphill ride to Titisee. At this point 
you can get an excellent lunch, and in the afternoon you will have 
a delightful coast through the Hollenthal to Freiburg. Of course 
you will see the great clock at Strassburg, and if you do not care 
to remain long in that city, you can make the run to Baden in the 
afternoon, and enjoy the casino in the evening. The distance is 
thirty miles, and the country is as flat as a floor. At Baden be 
sure and patronize the Friedrichsbad, one of the finest bath 
houses in the world, and visit the Alte Schloss, Huhenbaden, for 
the beautiful view. At Heidelberg is the finest ruin in Germany, 
and the view from the terrace is most delightful. You will arrive 
in Frankfort at noon, and you had better put in the remainder of 
the day visiting the Romer, the Zoological Gardens, the Stadel 
Art Institute, and the cathedral. In the evening visit the Palm 
Garden. At Wiesbaden wheel out to the Russian Church and 
obtain a good idea of the environs, and drink a little (a very little) 
of the water at the well house. At Rudesheim take your lunch 
at the restaurant at the foot of the cog railway, and then go up and 
visit the statue of Germania. On your return cross the river 
to Bingen and wheel to St. Goar, stopping en route to visit the 
castle of Rheinstein. At St. Goar you will visit the ruins of 
Rheinfels. Take lunch at Capellen, and then hire a donkey and 
visit the castle of Stolzenfels. At Coblenz stop at the Bellevue 
Hotel and take a promenade in the Rhine Garden. From your 
hotel you can look across the river to Ehrenbreitstein, the most 
powerful fortress on the Rhine. The run from Coblenz to Cologne 
can be easily made in a day, but Bonn is a very pleasant town in 
which to spend a few hours. At Cologne your guide book will 
tell you of many interesting things that you should see besides 
the cathedral. From Diisseldorf to Arnheim the route is over a 
flat country dotted with manufacturing cities of no great interest 
to the tourist, but the roads are so good that it is like riding on a 
race track. All through Holland the country is extremely inter- 
esting. 

In your passage through the large German cities you may 
find yourself suddenly halted by a policeman, and if you under- 
stand German you will find that you are riding on a street 
on which wheelmen are not permitted to ride. Many of these 
streets have signs announcing that cyclists are not permitted to 
ride on them. As these are generally the finest streets, the pro- 
hibition seems doubly hard, but the only thing to do is to obey 
the law. If possible, always go from one country to another by 
the highway instead of by train, thereby saving much trouble at 
the custom house. 



WHERE AND HOW TO GO. 67 

A LITTLE TOUR THROUGH HOLLAND. 

If one goes abroad by the Netherlands Line, and lands in Hol- 
land at the port of Rotterdam, he can hardly do better than to 
devote a week to this most interesting country. The following 
is a very attractive route: First day, Rotterdam; second day 
wheel to The Hague*, and remain there long enough to visit the 
Picture Gallery, Prins Hendrik Museum, the Town Hall, the 
Groote Kerk, and the Het Bosch, a beautiful forest in which is 
the celebrated Hins ten Bosch. After this proceed to Scbeven- 
ingen and spend the remainder of the afternoon and the evening 
there. Return to The Hague for the night. Third day, Leyden-f, 
Haarlem*; fourth day, Amsterdam*; fifth day, Amsterdam*; 
sixth day, Utrecht*; seventh day, Grebbef, Arnheim.* 

Remarks: — In wheeling from Rotterdam to The Hague you will 
pass through Delft, where is made the celebrated Delft ware. 
Scheveningen has one of the finest beaches and casinos in all 
Europe, and is a very fashionable resort. The ride from The 
Hague to Haarlem is often under magnificent elm trees which 
grow to enormous size in this country. Amsterdam will easily 
detain you a day and a half. You must visit the Royal Palace, 
the Ryks Museum, and the Zoological Garden. If time allows, 
take a trip to the island of Marken, a most picturesque place. 
The ride to Utrecht is along the canals and through the quaintest 
villages imaginable. Between Utrecht and Arnheim is another 
delightful route under beautiful elms, and by the lovely grounds 
of wealthy Dutchmen. At Arnheim you are on the direct route 
for the Upper Rhine ; but if you wish to visit Belgium you had 
better leave out Arnheim and return to Rotterdam from Utrecht. 

The routes outlined in the foregoing pages will take you by a 
variety of ways through Ireland, England, France, Switzerland, 
Germany and Holland, which is about as much as can be accom- 
plished in an ordinary summer vacation. That these routes can 
be indefinitely extended and varied goes without saying, and if 
one is accustomed to taking an annual vacation there is no reason 
why a number of short annual tours may not be made in Europe 
instead of one extended tour. The short tour, confined to one or 
two countries, is better, if one can be reasonably sure of going 
more than once. A summer in England, France, Norway or 
other country is apt to leave a clearer and more satisfactory im- 
pression on one's mind than a rapid run through a larger number of 
countries. A tour of the cathedral towns of England should take 
a month at least; a ramble through Touraine, the Garden of 
France, with it castles and palaces, may well consume an equal 
amount of time. To one who has previously visited the better 
known portions of the Continent the Tarn region in southern 
France would offer something decidedly out of the common. The 
object of this little book, however, is not to be a complete guide 
to all Europe — that would be a work of years— but rather to put 



68 CYCLING IN EUROPE. 

you in the way of knowing how to set about working out your own 
scheme of travel, and to supply a few helpful hints that will prove 
useful in so doing. If you are making your first visit unaccom- 
panied by others more experienced you cannot be too careful to 
have every detail attended to before starting. Circumstances 
may arise that will cause you to change them in some degree, but 
they will form a standard that will be invaluable as a time saver. 
That you will find your arrangements to work smoothly and that 
you will have a pleasant and profitable vacation in foreign lands 
is the hope and wish of the writer. 



Cbe eiwell European Cycle Cours 

ARE ANNUAL AFFAIRS THAT 
HAVE BECOME STANDARD 



On May 25th a limited party will start for a month 
in England, which may be extended over the Continent 
if desired. 

On June 24th and July 1st parties will leave New 
York for extended tours through France, Switzerland, 
Germany, Holland and England. Full particulars by 
addressing, 

F. A. ELWELL, 

PORTLAND, ME. 



Guide Boards for Cycle Paths and Country Roads. 




The L.A.W. is ready to sup- 
ply any number of Guide 
Boards not exceeding one 
million, at prices just low 
enough to be dirt cheap and 
just high enough to pay for 
the materials, printing, post- 
age, twine and wrapping pa- 
per necessary to spread the 
announcement and deliver 
the goods at the express 
house or freight office. 

. Description. — These Guide 
Boards are made to last a hun- 
dred years. They are cut from 
heavy refined sheet metal (15 
gauge, iron or steel), in two sizes. 
The sinailer will contain one or 
two lines of letter as may be or- 
dered; the larger will contain 
either three lines or four as may 
be ordered. Each Guide Board is 
heavily japanned on the bacK and 
has thr« e coats of best lead paint 
on the face, ou which the lettering 
is laid. The letters and figures are 
2 1-4 inch** high, hand painted. 
Holes are punched in each sign to 
receive fastening bolts or spikes 
and it is sent in each case ready 
to be prrT in place. Full printed 
instructions are sent with each 

sign. For circular giving prices, I 

etc., address « WHlCtT WAY ? " 

" Road Department," L. A. W., 530 Atlantic Ave., Boston, Mass. 

Handsomely litho- 
■-■«»«--_ graphed in colors on 
1 'T" f\ JM ;J ^?% heavy steel. Length, 

) I vi 1 J 20 in.; weight, 22 oz. 

M _gm^^^^^^ Supplied in lots of 
mKBK^^^^^^^ 50 or more at 3s cts. 
£-'. Hk each, or in lots of 

I I less than 50 at 40 cts. 

^V. each. At these prices 

f. -^ the hands are supplied with 

#*k no lettering except the word 
I "miles." When desired, we 
letter each sign at 15 cts.extra, 
but in many cases your local 
sign painter will do the letter- 
ing more cheaply than it can 
be done in Boston. For full 
circular information address L. A. W. Bulletin, 530 Atlantic Avenue, 

Boston, Mass. 

Hang it on the Wall of Your Office, 

More, Hotel, Shop, Club-Room, 

Place of Business 

So that every cyclist (man or wo- 
man) may see it. We will send you 
one (or more) of these bright little 
card hangers (6% x 7% in size) printed 
in black and scarlet— each having a 
metal eylet at the top so as to be eas- 
ily hung up. We will also send you 
a manilla envelope containing a sup- 
ply of membership blanks and printed 
information, so that you may hand 
a blank to each inquiring friend. If 
you are willing to do this for the L.A. 
W., please notify me by postal card 
and I will send the hanger and blanks. 

Abbot Bassett, Sec'y, 
530 Atlantic Ave., Boston, Mass. 



THE HELPING HAND. 



League of 
American 



.iiiraaiiiiaii 



mmw 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



IIE3WEMM 




020 677 457 5 



We want the cyclists in every city and town to organize into 
L. A. W. Consulates, elect their own officers, adopt their own con- 
stitution and by-laws and take up the work of constructing 
cycle paths, pushing the good roads movement, and taking an 
active part in other L. A. W. work for the special benefit of 



LOCAL WHEELMEN. 




THE NEED OF A CYCLE PATH. 



Any ten or more members may form 
a Consulate and receive a handsomely 
engraved charter issued by the offi- 
cers of the State Division, together 
with printed instructions and informa- 
tion telling how to organize and carry 
on local work. If you decide to organ- 
ize in your town, send to the Sec- 
retary-Treasurer of >, our State Di- 
vision (his name and address are in 
the official pages of the L. A. W. 
Bulletin) and get from him a list of 
the League members in your vicinity, 
together with blank "calls" or notices 
of preliminary meeting, printed copy 
ot usual form of constitution and by- 
laws for Consulates, and other printed 
matter instructing you how to pro- 
ceed. Local Consulates are numbered 
in the order in which their charters 
are issued, but any Consulate may 
adopt or retain its separate name or 
title and use the L. A. W. emblem 



r^i 



and its Consulate number 
as a part of its special in- 
signia, which is commonly 
shown by a collar strap. A 
Club may become a Local 
Consulate within the L. 
A. W. by joining the Or- 
ganization AND MAY STILL 
RETAIN ITS CLUB NAME AS A 

Consulate title. Plans 
and specifications for cycle 
paths and other informa- 
tion to aid Local Consu- 
lates will be cheerfully sup- 
plied by the officers of the 
State Division ana Na- 
tional body of the League. 

Press of W. F. Vanden Houten, 249 Pearl St., N. Y 



:yc lists 

RIDE WITH 

ION 

LEAGUE OF AMERICAN WHEELMEN 



P 



The "Danger Sign." 

Erected by the L. A. W. to warn cy- 
clists of steep hills, unguarded gullies, 
etc. 



.v. 



